FoodAg Project Su24 site for Emmerson

What happens next

As this quarter comes to a close i am left wondering what’s next? In the fall we will have many opportunities to take this project to the kitchen. It feels like completing a life cycle. We took these plants from seed to plate. This project has shown me how important it is to have transparency between you and the route your food has taken. I know that these eggplants will taste good because I planted each one with care, I weeded them with love, and I harvested them with a group of amazing people. In the fall quarter we will be taking our eggplants from the field to the kitchen. We found many recipes for gilos that look amazing. The idea of putting these eggplants into more western dishes like an eggplant parm has come up a few times. While I think this sounds interesting I think  we are going more of a traditional approach. For some of us this is challenging our tastebuds. A new cultural food made with new cultural ingredients. This project has also changed how I view bitter and other commonly thought of bad tastes. I’ve gone from being avoidant and negative about bitter to thinking of it as a reminder I’m alive. It reminds me that my body can be shocked, that my senses are still here, it reminds me that something can go wrong and I can be okay. I’m excited to finish up harvesting these eggplants and try them in many different forms. I’m also excited to see how these plants sell in at the markets! I will definitely buy some to cook with. I wonder how many will get sold, what do people think of this food, or what do people think about our project.  

For the fall quarter I hope to do a few projects to wrap this up. I want to make a small recipe book for the recipes we found, I want to cook and eat Gilos in a dish and do a flavor analysis, and I want to make some sticker or tee-shirt designs that I would theoretically sell with the culinary breeders’ network.  

For more reflection and plans for next quarter check out my final self eval (link here) 

Food security and cultural foods

Access to cultural foods (or lack thereof) is a major public health concern in many places across the us and the world. “determinates of food security” defines food security as “all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. This sources definition for food insecurity is “when one or more of the conditions of FS (food security) is absent”. With these definitions in mind, we can better understand how not having access to cultural foods is a form of food insecurity that is most prevalent in immigrant diaspora communities across the us.  

Supplying these communities with their cultural foods benefits the consumers and anyone involved in growing and producing them. While more benefit is seen by who sells the products there can be policies put in place to encourage and support farmers who grow cultural foods. ECV are defined as “… those vegetables consumed by a group that shares a similar cultural heritage.”  Culturally appropriate vegetables and economic development addresses this issue with this suggestion, “…any policy that will support the purchase of ECV (ethno-cultural vegetables) should prescribe policies that will reduce the cost of production of these vegetables”. By giving financial incentives to farmers and any nonprofit that wants to help these farmers, this can make access to ECV easier for many communities. These policies can also help reduce the cost of these vegetables. Cost is a main factor in resolving this type of food insecurity. It has been found that household income doesnt really determine how much a household will spend on ECV. It was also found that as household size increased so did spending on ECV. Amount spent on ECV didn’t change with a change in income (positive or negative). 

Growing ECV locally is beneficial for the consumer as the nutritional value doesn’t change as much as it would if they were shipped from all around the world. The longer a vegetable is out of the ground the less nutritional value it has. Moving to a country (willingly or not) where you don’t know the language and dont have alot of access to the foods you know can make it very difficult to eat healthy. This can lead to many health problems like malnutrition, undereating or overeating, and any health issues related to not eating healthily. That is why having access to locally grown ECV is so important for not only those who sell and produce the products but also those who consume it.

this post is to document the process of developing educational materials for the marketing of Gilos.

Here is the first flyer I made for this project. As you can see there are a few errors and overall, I wasn’t happy with how this came out in the end. It felt rushed and looked rushed too. Font and layout of the text (how far apart everything is) definitely are my two issues with this first draft. 

Next draft I definitely spent more time on this one and tried to be a bit more of a perfectionist with this one. I took feedback from Aria who looked at it as we worked on the field sign which based its information on this flyer. I payed more attention to the font and spacing of the information making sure it looks nice but also easy to read. I then ran into another issue of space. I have a lot of information but little space to put it on. This issue should be fixed in the 3rd draft.

This is the final draft of the flyer! I love how the design came out and i’m proud of how well my fellow researchers made this flyer.

We went on a trip up to the New Roots farm in Kent. This farm provides refugees and immigrants from many different diverse backgrounds a chance to not only grow culturally relevant foods but also a chance to turn it into a source of income and support for their community. Most of the crops grown on this land are sold by the farmers themselves or by the New Roots farm market stand at the Tukwila farmers’ market. This nonprofit uses resources from the USDA and grants from other agricultural agencies in local and federal government. These resources are given directly to the farmers who work the land. We saw different techniques of trellising and intercropping at this farm. I saw many different types of vegetables and fruits from all over the world. This farm and its related markets are a great example of how the process of cultivation of cultural foods can be put back into the hands of those who need it the most. This visit also opened my eyes to how specific I can get with a job in agriculture. I now know that id love a job that assists or runs organizations like New Roots.  

Solanum aethiopicum, Gilo, Scarlet Eggplant, Garden Egg, Ethiopian Eggplant. These are just some of the many different names for Gilos. While I will be using the name Gilo for this plant there are many different names in many different languages of where this plant is grown. This plant is a cultural food in many parts of Africa, mostly in Central and West Africa. The seeds of Gilos were brought to Brazil through the transatlantic slave trade. Enslaved people would hide the seeds of their ancestral foods in their hair as they were taken across the ocean. Since Gilos were already grown in hot and semi tropical environments, they flourished and adapted to the climate of Brazil. 

 Gilos are an important cultural food for these people, yet they struggle with access to Gilos especially in areas like Washington for example. There is a large west African immigrant community in parts of Seattle who have limited access to Gilos and other cultural foods. Observing the lack of access for many to Gilos, this is only the tip of the iceberg in regard to access to culturally relevant foods for immigrants in America. Gilos are an important cultural food as they not only contribute to the pallet of African food but also the fruits of this plant have numerous health benefits. These benefits were first noticed by leaders of communities in central and west Africa. Gilos are used as remedies for many ailments like fever or dizziness but can also be used to treat convulsions and hypertension. Other varieties in Africa are used to prevent malaria and stimulate appetite. (eggplants present and future) 

After much discussion with Sarah Williams, and Sarah Dyer I have decided to share my research on my website in the form of posts. Each topic I want to research will have its own post. This allows me to dedicate time and space to each topic that interests me with these plants. I will be focusing on the cultural and ethnic importance of Gilos and other cultural foods.  

On a less personal note, we have seen one harvest of our fruits! I love the organic farm in the summer and fall. It is blooming with life, and everything buzzes in a sort of harmony. The sound of people harvesting fruits and veggies, the sound of the water washing off tools and vegetables, and of course the demanding meows of Butch the farm cat. Below are some photos of the small harvest we had last week. I hope to be involved in the many harvests to come 

Half way! It feels like we have done so much but we have so much more to do in the coming weeks. We need to do some more trelicing, this process was started in week 4 along with pruning and over all observation of the plants. This week I continue research and start writing my paper! And here is an update on my research notes  

Ethnobotanical charatirization of gilos 

• Use of traditional knowledge to learn about the plants (talking to locals and farmers in the areas its traditionally grown) 

• Its indingous to afriacan countries but has been spread to Brazil and the Caribbean 

• Has many health benefits that are amplified with near daily consumption. The Igbo people of Nigeria eat this plant in almost every meal to help with eyesight. Further studies have been contducted shwoing that consumption of Gilos can benefit glacouma patients. Frequent consumption of this plant can lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease (two large health issues in america) 

I have also been debating the format of my paper. I am not sure if a literature review is what is best for me. Here is another idea I have for my paper.

Botany of the plant 

• Different parts basic functions 
• Where its grown 
• Nutritional info 
• Basic description about varieties we are growing 

Why it’s important to grow  

• Food security and ECVs and other cultural foods
• Health benefits  

This week I started on the formatting of my literature review along with starting my collection of resources. To find most of my sources I looked through the bibliography on Sarah Dyers website. Looking through these sources reignited my passion for public health and research. I felt burnt out on researching and taking notes last quarter, but this has gone away. The first few papers I read focused more on the public health parts of this project. In upcoming weeks Ill have more research on the anatomy and background of Gilos

Culturally appropriate vegetables and economic development 

• As populations grow more diverse the demand for ethno-cultural vegetables (ECV) rises  
• ECV are those vegetables consumed by a group that shares a similar cultural heritage. ” 
• This demand for ECV is see throughout different immigrant communities. Growing ECV is beneficial for not just one group but many other communities  
• As these vegetables are imported, they lose a lot of their Nutrional value (another benefit of growing ECVs closer to immigrant populations)
• This market is a specialized niche market that requires a clear understanding of the cultural and socio-economic characteristics of the stakeholders in order for farmers to benefit from it 
• “Disparity in income makes price a very important factor in decision making and any policy that will support the purchase of ECV should prescribe policies that will reduce the cost of production of these vegetables. ” 
• Grow ECVs locally to preserve their nutritional value and their health benefits. Gilo are crazy heathy but can lose these benefits when shipped from overseas 

Eggplants present and future 

• Scarlet eggplant (gilos) is mostly cultivated in Asia and Africa but can be grown in many places across the world 
• Some African countries use Gillos as remedy for fevers dizziness convulsions and hypertension. Other varieties grown in Africa have been used to prevent malaria, increase lactation, and stimulate appetite 

Determinates of food security

(these notes are mostly quotes from the paper I read) 

• Since food is linked to cultural identity, for many moving to a new country having their cultural is a critical part of establishing life in a new place
• ” To improve food security for people with lived refugee backgrounds, governments and organizations should collaborate with the cultural communities with lived experiences of accessing cultural foods, appreciate their strengths, and recognize the value of social and cultural capital.” 
• “Especially for refugees there can be a lot of stress when moving to a new country so having foods, they are familiar with be in easy access is important” 
• “Eating habits are driven by food availability, cultural and religious practices, societal norms, individual experiences, and taste preferences, and as such, food is intrinsically linked to identity and the maintenance of culture” 
• “Food Security (FS) exists when “all people at all times have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” “ 
• “Food insecurity (FI) is when one or more of the conditions of FS is absent. This suggests that FI exists when cultural foods are not available, cannot be accessed, or are unable to be utilized.”
• “Providing ECV fights food insecurity and supports food security in refugee and immigrant populations “ 
• To find cultural foods, people adapted to their new environment using social media and mobile phone apps to locate those foods [44, 45]. People travelled long distances, went to multiple stores, markets, community gardens, grew food in backyards, fished and foraged to obtain the variety of food they desired  
• Even if supermarkets stocked cultural foods, some would be hesitant to shop there with language and cultural barriers presenting many issues 
• Want for familiar foods can also come from a place of mistrust of unfamiliar food safety 
• Mistrust in legal systems also plays into this 
• Community knowledge is key to locating and sharing ECV and other cultural foods
• Availability was improved through shared horticultural knowledge and exchanging seeds of cultural foods [43]. which also created new stable and sustainable foodways.   
• Cultural stigma against sharing that you are facing food insecurity. 

This week was very tiring with lots of work in the hot sun. This week started with a meeting discussing our plans for the week and the weeks coming up. Me and Aria are working together for some parts of the art and marketing but also doing our own separate things. I started finalizing the idea for my paper on the ethnobotany of Gillos. On Friday me and Aria got started on making the sign for the plot. We could not find any white paint, so we had to settle for a light purple. This will work better. I think true white paint might have been too harsh in the sun especially with the near direct sunlight our plot gets.  

I also spent time this week working on reading Sara Dyers literature review as this is how I want to format my paper. Me and Aria also discussed creating a documentation protocol for the plants. This would cover what we want to look for like pest damage, flowering, overall, just how the plants are growing.  

Both weeks were spent reviewing literature from the past quarter and setting up contracts.  

work on the field included weeding and some light pruning. At this point we are starting to see some plants flower and get ready to fruit! This is very exciting. Not only are we seeing our progress, and our plants grow, but this also means our plot is dotted with vibrant purples and whites of the flowers. Due to the heat these first few weeks my trips to the farm were limited.  

These weeks we also started discussions about signage and marketing for this project. Hopefully, we can work with the Culinary Breeders Network to sell what we grow in their CSA boxes. We might also be able to publish some of the work we have done on their website.  

Like the flowers on our plants, we are blooming with many different opportunities!