“STOP Eating the White Man’s Food”

Native-American Warrior Dance

I’m quoting. I’m quoting a Native-American young man who, upon visiting his cousin, saw that his cousin was suffering: he was overweight, sluggish, sick, depressed and feeling hopeless. He told his cousin, “You gotta stop eating the white man’s food! I did, and I got my life together. I’m feeling a lot better, clearer, stronger, more alive.”

No one should eat the White Man’s Food. What is the white man’s food? Red meat, processed meats, sugar drinks, artificial foods, fast foods, white flour baked goods, non-organic dairy, GMOs, chemicals, dyes, preservatives, trans fats, added salts and sugars.

I read this young man’s story in a comment. I believe in comments. Real ones, that is, not those turds dropped by trolls. Real, serious comments from real people who know something. Often, the people commenting know more than the author of the article itself. I call it “word-on-the-street,” to quote Christopher Walken in Suicide Kings, word-on-the-street is “Solid!”

I believe this young man’s story.

The reason I believe him is because I have not eaten the white man’s food for over 40 years. I’ve been macrobiotic for 45 years and counting. My diet is based on brown rice and vegetables with some fish, chicken and organic eggs. I’m not that strict, really. I enjoy a little scotch in the evenings, and a small dish of frozen yogurt. But, I am 67 years old, not on any medications, and doing pretty well.

Back to the Native-American man. What did he advise his cousin to eat? Whole grains, beans, vegetables, lots of vegetables, foods we can actually get, unlike the buffalo, which we nearly destroyed. If anyone wanted to eat buffalo, please remember you must consider what the buffalo is eating and where you live. Only people who live out of doors, in buffalo country, where the buffalo graze on clean land may eat buffalo. Wild game is not desirable unless you are living wild; it is very hard to balance game with our modern lifestyle, which tends to be on hardscape, streets, sidewalks, houses. This hardscape, and the stress of modern life, are why we are attracted to so much sugar - however, sugar kills.

Besides the buffalo, we have also nearly destroyed the corn, another traditional Native-American food. Almost all corn (and also soybeans) in the United States is Genetically Modified. Be very careful to eat only organic corn and soybeans!

I remember, and I have not been able to find him, another young man, not Native-American, who was, years ago, trying to help the Native-Americans to regain their native foods, especially beans which can be obtained or grown relatively easily. But, we live in the modern world, and people can now go to almost any store or natural foods co-op to buy good quality beans, whole grains and vegetables. I remember this young man’s open hand holding pinto beans, a bean marked with the reddish-brown spots of a pinto horse. I eat pinto beans, they’re sweet and creamy, very delicious.

I say white man’s food, but many African-Americans have also forgotten their traditional foods. They have turned to fast foods as a staple diet or to regular, American fare. However, African-American food is fantastically delicious! I grew up Italian, and very early got the impression that people who have suffered war or other deprivation, like slavery, have learned how to forage and make good food out of what other, more privileged people, consider weeds or undesirable parts of the animal. I grew up eating tripe and chicken feet and gizzards and dandelion greens, not necessarily in the same dish, but I was no stranger to native grasses and parts of the animal most cooks throw out. Maybe I never really ate the white man’s food. My mother railed, “Don’t eat anything from a factory!” She picked dandelion greens in vacant lots while the neighbors laughed at her. 

Native-Americans were taken from their native lands and marched to arid, hostile land over hundreds of miles along the Trail of Tears. Many died or sickened, and when they arrived, they had nothing. They were not allowed to leave the reservations or to get jobs. They were not allowed to speak in their native languages or teach their children the native dances. Have things changed? Yes and no. Native-Americans can now move freely, but, in this modern day, there are still more dead and missing among our Native-Americans than any other group. 

Whole grains cost very little and are simple to cook. Brown rice triples in volume when cooked and lasts for days in a bowl win the counter, covered with a sushi mat. An easy brown rice recipe follows this post, as does a basic recipe for beans, and a nutritious condiment called gomasio, made from roasted sesame seeds and sea salt to sprinkle on your cooked brown rice. 

I say white man’s food, but there’s no reason anyone should eat any of its poison. It’s not about race anyway, it’s about power. Power to the people. Take back your traditional foods. Take back your power! Everyone should learn to cook for themselves and their families. It’s the only way back to health. Remember.

Brown Rice

2 cups short grain brown rice (This is simply the best, highest quality brown rice.  Short grain is the strongest brown rice, good for strengthening our conditions,)

3 cups spring water (1 1/2 cups water to each cup of brown rice)

pinch sea salt

Wash brown rice in a strainer.  Put clean rice into a pan with a good strong base, like a Revereware pan because it will need to simmer for 45 minutes and you don't want the bottom to burn.

Measure 3 cups spring water, pour into pan with washed rice. 

Place pan on stove, turn flame up high until water boils, then turn down flame immediately until rice is gently simmering.  Then, cover tightly and let simmer for 45 minutes.

When you remove the cover, your rice should be fluffy and separated, perhaps slightly stuck to the bottom.  This is okay.  If "bottom rice" is golden in color, toasty looking, it is very delicious and tastes great added to your miso soup!

Don't worry if your brown rice isn't perfect on your first try!  Many people have to make several pots before they get it right!  Even if it's wrong, too mushy (Next time add a little less water!) too dry (Next time add a little more water!) you can eat the rice and it tastes great!

Beans

1 cup beans

2-3 cups water

Small piece of kombu sea vegetable (available at Whole Foods or Eden Foods online) Kombu is not necessary to cook beans, but it does help soften the beans and eliminates gas from the bean)

Wash beans in a strainer, you can work the beans a little with your hands to begin the softening process.

Place beans in pan, water to cover. Bring to a boil, simmer for 1-2 hours if using dry beans. Skim the foam from the top to eliminate gas from the beans.

You may also buy canned beans from a trustworthy source such as Whole Foods or Eden Foods. (I cannot recommend Goya beans as they are not organic and contain a lot of salt.) When I cook with canned beans, I add chopped onion and garlic sautéed in olive oil. Yum!

Gomasio

One quarter cup of unhulled sesame seeds contains 35% of our required calcium for the day.

To make gomasio, please wash about two cups of unhulled sesame seeds in a fine strainer until the water runs clear. Then, drain the water carefully by tilting the strainer and tossing the seeds from side to side in the strainer. You may let the strainer sit on a clean towel for a few minutes, occasionally tilting it to get more water out.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the seeds are almost dry, or completely dry, place them in a shallow glass pan in a 350 degree oven, turning them with a wooden spoon every 10 minutes or so. Seeds are done when they are a golden brown. Your kitchen will also be infused with a delicious aroma of roasted nuts!

Place hot seeds into a wooden bowl. To make gomasio, place approximately 3 TBS of sea salt to 2 cups seeds into a suribachi bowl or mortar bowl. If you don’t have either of these, you may use an ordinary wooden bowl. Crush the sea salt with a spiraling motion of the pestle. When sea salt is fine, add the seeds and crush them into the sea salt with a spiraling motion. Do not crush all the seeds, leave some whole for more flavor. 

You may use hot seeds for gomasio making, but let the gomasio cool before placing it into a glass jar for storage. If you wish to save some of the seeds for adding to salads, breads, cookies, etc., put some aside in a wooden bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally to speed up the process. Store these in a glass jar for future use.

Like any other time consuming process in the kitchen, gomasio making may be done efficiently around other activities during the day, and will not seem to take up much time as soon as you have a method down. Gomasio usually lasts a few weeks. Once you have tasted good homemade gomasio, you’ll always want some around!

©Patricia Goodwin, 2019

Patricia Goodwin is the author of When Two Women Die, about Marblehead legends and true crime and its sequel, Dreamwater, about the Salem witch trials and the vicious 11-year-old pirate Ned Low. Holy Days is her third novel, about the sexual, psychological seduction of Gloria Wisher and her subsequent transformation. Her newest poetry books are Telling Time By Apples, And Other Poems About Life On The Remnants of Olde Humphrey Farme, illustrated by the author, and Java Love: Poems of a Coffeehouse. Patricia has enjoyed the health and well-being of the macrobiotic diet for over 40 years. She has written many articles about health and the dangers of GMOs.

***Disclaimer: The information on this blog is not meant to substitute for medical care. Please consult your physician before beginning any new dietary guidelines.