USA-Uganda-USA-Uganda_May 26, 2011

Staying in Lukaya Uganda (June 2010 - March 2011), had pushed many food choices my way. How to deal with simple food waste, choosing local foods, pre-packaged foods, processed foods, fish, chicken, eggs, goat, cow, insects, sugar, soda, glass bottles, plastic bottles, local fruit drinks, buying prepared meals from kitchens, and buying food that i can grow myself. Another question was plastic bags, since every little thing i buy is handed to me in a small plastic baggie. How was I to deal with trash or garbage that can't be composted or returned to the earth's cycle. I gained some local living experiences that may not be able to be explained in one breath.

In February 2011, I had a family emergency in the U.S.A. and spend 1 month before returning to Uganda. Going through the food and purchasing choices in the U.S. was difficult and out of my hands at times. I could not believe some of the choices i made because they were really not like me. What to eat?

Now, back in Uganda in April and trying to get settled into a different living apartment and a different neighborhood.

Lukaya, Day 3

The power source: heaven or hell. Good news I found charcoal for me to live, bad news. charcoal is contributing to deforestation, good news; im using an improved efficiency charcoal stove. bad news- I have no clue.
finished product: more rice. I cooked three batches of rice, my style. Or as best as i could get to a simmer. Using rocks and bricks to raise lower pot to control heat. I was full on the second batch, saved the third for next day. my friends are going to help me tomorrow to cook rice Lukayan style. doesn't make much sense to me, but it will be using cooking oil to fry onions then add tomatoes, finally add uncooked rice to make the meal. we will see.

The big Deal was getting charcoal. any other day, many shops carry it. but today was exceptionally difficult. We stopped at 5 shops before i could get my hands on some. David hooked me up with some eggs. one was broken, I just ate it raw when i got home. small ripe sweet bananas I bought didn't last long. Derrick and i quickly ate them all sitting on the veranda.

Lukaya, Day 2

Featured: cooking rice ... in uganda ... improved efficiency charcoal stove ... shared with a friend ... dream come true.

me tasting the rice with bamboo cup from Elaine, wooden spoon from Bert

Derrick Helped (showed me How to) Sort rice. stones are good for you, right?!
Borrowing David's High eff. charcoal stove and using the pot that i left in uganda in January.
David gathers/transports/prepares eggs (emoji?) for the students of the Mustard Seed Academy. He gave me 1 hard boiled egg. It is amazing that in america we must insist on refrigeration. We have lost touch with nature... are we trying to control it, yada.
also ate one Manvu (ripened sweet banana)

a few Gnatts (fried ground nuts)

Lukaya, Day 1

Featured: Drinking Water from a plastic bag though a straw. Kyeynne Sulaiman, an local man helping to manufacture the ISSB bricks for MSA.

an early 8:00 meeting time at the Basmilla lodge with David Bakeine. I ordered Black Tea (Chai Mukalu). no bread, I want to conserve my money because i only have a small (for me) amount of shillings on me. Got to eat davids' cold fried flat bread (chapati). So not waste-stream but left-over, that he didn't want, on the first day in Lukaya, first meal. who would have thought!

on school break, around 10:30 am, was able to join a few teachers for Rwenzori chai and Lindazi, a kind of quick bread. We used a small package that may have included about 10 servings of tea. It was finely ground, acting like instant tea.

I walking away from the campus, when Augustine, guard for the Mustard Seed Academy school, passed me on a bike. he was going very very very slowly. He was caring two large buckets of food from Uganda Campus to American Campus. I was intrigued on the process so i turned and followed with my camera. (as if i was chasing a very slow wild beast) the kids ate Posso, a type of cooked corn meal mush, Ebejanjerro (beans) and Nsenene (fried grasshoppers), what a treat. My meal was the same, but replaced posse with Metoke (cooked banana). full plate.

Picked up a pineapple, passion fruit, and some tomatoes at the market in the morning. The Pineapple i took to the Bissmilla to share with our friends Alice, Fanny, and Angie. Their cousin Franki no longer stays there, he is in a town called Lyantonde near Masaka. good times had for all. david, and Derek joined us as well.

Fried corn. popcorn, without the happy ending.

Uganda Bound

From New Jersey to Amsterdam (AMS) I caught a seat next to a cat named Iranny. eventually (I mean Quickly) the conversation got to Food. I got her to my Facebook page and spent too much time showing off the Pics of food in my phone. Everything was great. She's working as some type of catering service cook and showed me her rewards of taking home work food that would go to waste. lots of pretty food. Iranny also talked about sharing and distributing the food with others and the management issues that are facing the food market.

From wam - feast or famine

on board the flight, I grabbed a few waste items around me, cheese, crackers, bread. Then, in AMS airport, after picking up a banana laying on the plane, i scored coffee, a croissant, tuna baguette, caramel glazed cookie, and missed my opportunity to snatch an apple.

From wam - feast or famine

the flight meals were an issue with me, I sucked up and took the servings. I later discussed the situation with a flight attendant. She joked that if i didn't eat the meal the she would eat it. but she warned that some meals wont be served, and will be tossed. there is more tossed that what can be eaten. She got me to think of the food as already waste! … kinda like the whole idea of a vegetarian being teased about eating meat. " it's already Dead!"

Joe and Elaine gave me a gift back in Jersey. a bamboo tea cup. Perfect because I forgot anything that resembles a drinking tool. Took it on the plane. asked for tea to be poured in my cup not a disposable cup. good stuff. at the end of flight, the attendant that was serving me asked about it so i got a quick chance to share my limited feelings about disposable Items.

From wam - feast or famine

didn't eat anything else the rest of the night. arrived Entebbe, Uganda around 730pm, then directly went to Lukaya, there by 11pm, good drive time, real good.

From wam - feast or famine

Leaving Ohio

Leaving Ohio was more difficult than expected. There were delay's in route to Lukaya Uganda ... mainly me. I missed my flight. After some great help from a couple guys named Mike and RPU director Elaine (who had their heads on their shoulders) I was able to avoid an $800 ticket for my jump flight to New Jersey. The result was a pleasant evening in the Columbus Airport until a 6am flight out.

So I got hungry. Took my time to check all the waste cans in one of the active 'dining' areas ... Wendy's. I gathered enough fries to fill up a serving box, two double burgers w/ bacon, and the remains of a dug out baked potato. Then I also picked up a few pieces of chicken and cherry tomatoes.

I was able to use the down time by continuing the repair work needed for the bag I'm taking to Lukaya. I found the bag back in Slippery Rock when looking through Student trash.

gosh, I've always been one to take my job too seriously. Sunday, a feast was prepared for my parents and neighbors, 95% waste stream, they brought a great contribution. Homemade quadruple been salad. I enjoyed it. we made cheesy potatoes with cheese, stirfry veggies, had cucumber, tortilla chips, spinach dip, guacamole, garlic bread, and im prolly missing something ... fruit juice, all from the waste.

Hutch Myers' Wedding

I was of good behavior, for the most part, during Hutches wedding. didn't look into any of the trash cans at the reception. I had a snack before the wedding, Celery, pudding, jello, 'small oranges' we love our waste-stream snacks. I stashed some celery in my pocket for a snack during the wedding, not a good idea. Celery is loud. Crunch... crunch, crunch.!

As Disgusted as Shelly looks, she ate the waste-stream turkey that I made up. there was also a bowl of chicken noodle soup from the waste. Apparently my waste wasn't good enough for her. she had to top my methods by dipping the celery into a jar of peanut butter heading for the trash, then take a dirty knife to scrape the bottom of the jar to put a layer on the celery... whatever floats your boat. i dont know if I'd do that.

Last Friday in Carey

Enjoyed another 100% waste-stream feast with a friend. Both lunch and diner. It's so easy to eat around Carey and Findlay Ohio. My responsibility is to use this as a resource. I would be crazy to spend money on food when I can thrive on American food waste.

Sandal Repair

My attempt at repairing the waste-stream sandals for Uganda. planning on putting some kilometers on these.

today I ate some non waste-stream cookies that my neighbor made. Chocolate chip-oatmeal-raisin, still warm from Mrs. Dirmeyer.

100%

Noah joined Ev for a 100% waste-stream feast. He took about 20 cheese wedges and many other waste-stream goodies home.

Cheese Cheese

Organizing the waste-stream while wearing an apron found during the raid. Whole bag of oranges (just a couple bad ones) bell pepers, red peppers, jalapeno peppers, PARSNIP (Identified by Bert), green beans, potatoes, sweet potato, black berries, raspberries, strawberries, Orange juice, tortilla chips, mushrooms, spinach dip, onions, apples, turnips, cream cheese, strip cheese, cheese, cheese, 42 wedges.....

Vermipost

After wastestream dinner we started a vermipost.

Well, lots of freshly wasted meat, sausage, ham, sandwiches, onions, and two questionable cocoanuts. Picked up monday while shopping for dinner needs from the trash.

Thanks to Bert

Thanks Bert. steamed spinach, sauted onion, kale, spinach.. And fried corn and kale. a meal All from the waste stream.

More Strawberry Shorty

Mom made more Strawberry Shortcake from waste-stream Strawberries.

Recooked a bunch of wings, and shared the experience with a meat-eating friend.

This Youtube is life changing, you thought you knew, but take a look on how to eat a chicken wing. not that i would buy, promote, or support the industrial agriculture system, but tell me this doesn't change you life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRcOY-PvOC8

Had to wait in line at the dumpster today. A nice lady took all the good stuff as we pulled up to findlay kroger. Made it to 3 different locations before the sun went down. Scored a cucumber, bell peppers, onion, celery, potatoes, cheese sticks, broccly cole slaw, pbutter cookies, 2 cases of frozen juice concentrate, 4 loaves of baguette bread, and many chicken wings.

Flowers and Fruit bowl

Waste-Stream.

Findlay dumpstering

Three friends went dumpstering last night. This is a pic they sent of what was pulled from kroger, main st in Findlay.

Score at Findlay kroger, always more than i can take. Cheese, eggs, hash browns, tea, coffee, biscuits, noodles, ceareal, protein powder, guacamole, turkey meat, candy, butterfinger, poptarts, pudding, fruit cups, birs seed, sunflower seeds, granola bars, mystery cans, canned-corn, beans, sause, soup, kale, spinach, watermellon, strawberriess, blueberries, and kiwi.

Mushrooms Stuffed

In applebees in findlay, chips and cheeze sticks from other tables. Not gettin kicked out. Oh and a bag of sourpatch kids.
My mistake! the table i got the cheese sticks from wasn't done yet. embarrassing, but the manager offered us a free appetizer to prevent us from taking other peoples food. really, i thought the table was done. sorry applebees, also, im not interested in a free appetizer. no need to put a demand in the food market supply chain for little O'l me.

Stuffed on stuffed mushrooms made from mostly waste-stream food. Glad to have been able to share them with 3 other friends. they tasted much better than they looked.

Cooking a head of lettuce in frying pan. We found a box full in great scott dumpster. Eating the jello and yogurt too!

Findlay Ohio Diving

Featured: Food from the Garbage

2nd: now when she says dumpster diving, i guess she really means Dumpster Diving.

well Even though i'm off the 100% commitment to waste-stream food, I still have a responsibility to utilize this valuable resource. what i'm most exited about is now i can eat my rice! I gave over 20 lbs to a friend and found a reserve stash of 50 lbs at my parent's place. its sad to think that while living off of waste, i may have wasted my rice. there is a long winded explanation for why, at one point, i had over 150 lbs of rice. I save if for some down time. Today i finally cooked some wastestream noodles, and added the velveeta cheese from yesterday, also got to enjoy my Wild rice and Black lentils! we saved the juice and fed it to some trees being started.

Back in findlay, running around with a friend dumpstering. We found more that we took.

9 heads of lettuce, Potatoes, apples, jello, yogurt, veggie trays, Dill herbs, yogurt, salad mix, mushrooms, Strawberries, And a bouquet of Flowers!