Page 25 - Barefoot guide

CHAPTER 3

FINDING FOOD FOR

STRONG BODIES

The issue of eating healthy food to fight against COVID-19 affects Africans all
across the continent. Our story now shifts to people in East Africa …
STORY

TRADITIONAL OR MODERN IDEAS? WHAT IS BEST?

Joyce stood looking down the dusty road, shading her eyes against the bright sun. Her granddaughter, Nelima, was
coming today. Joyce was proud of Nelima whom she had raised after Nelima’s mother died of cancer. Nelima had gone
to college in Nairobi to study and be trained as a change agent in using agriculture for nutrition. Now she was coming
back to visit. She said she wanted to help everyone in her community to eat healthily, so that they could stay strong in
this time of COVID-19.
Joyce remembered when Mercella’s son came back to the village from university. He had come with this hybrid maize.
You buy hybrid seeds from the company, and fertiliser and pesticides. He told Mercella to plant out her fields with
this maize. Most other members of the community were interested too but the seeds and chemicals cost too much.
Mercella’s maize yield was really good in the first year and she saved seed from the crop and even shared with her
neighbours. But when they planted seed saved from the crop, the yields were very low, worse than the yields they used
to get from their traditional maize.
The taxi came at last and the two were joyfully reunited. After settling Nelima in, they sat down for a cup of tea.
“Are you coming with strange modern ideas, and to tell your grandmother that everything she knows is wrong, like
Mercella’s son?” Joyce asked. She had been worried about this.

Nelima laughed. “My ideas are modern, Grandma,
but not strange. Some modern things are OK, others
not. And guess what! There is new science proving
that there is much wisdom in your traditional
ways, respecting it but adding things to improve
it. In fact, I need your help in my work with the
community members.”

“Oh, Nelima, what can I tell them? You’re the one
with all the education.”
“You know a lot, Grandma, that’s what I’m telling
you. All the time I was learning new research
about good diets, I was thinking, this is like the
food my grandmother gave me when I was
growing up! And I’m so glad you’ve been eating
this food all your life, because I know this will
help you survive COVID-19 if you get infected
and other illnesses.
“Look, Grandma, if I show you these charts,
you will see what I mean.”

CHAPTER 3: FINDING FOOD FOR STRONG BODIES 17