We are what we eat
BUG GUTS & BEAUTY
By Orpheus Allison
Can you dice? Chop? Filet? How about boiling water, do you end up burning the water? These are not simple questions. They can mean the difference between eating well and … well, eating.
If the nutritionists and dietitians on call at the hospitals in The County are to be believed a large portion of the population needs to watch what foods they take in. Food is a major part of our lives. One eats, one lives.
As the body changes and this wonderful creature that our corpuscles inhabit begins to age, it demands food. Our ancestors had to make do with whatever wild critter happened to wander across the footpath. Skill with a club was prized. Fire was discovered and very soon after the pleasures of hot meals came to be known. Today there are hundreds of choices and those are the ones at your local fast food outlet. It is amazing how many ways there are to split a chicken.
When the committee of the whole, one’s body, goes into rebellion and results in a trip to the hospital one will be visited by a variety of characters wearing white lab coats, serious expressions, and carrying clipboards. These are the health care professionals. After the figure out what ails one, they will present one with a list of instructions on how one should live your life. Pills, potions, and post visit care are brought to one’s attention.
Chief amongst the instructions is to watch what one eats. In the past it might mean that one did not try to eat that porcupine as an hors d’oeurve and avoid snacking on flies at the dung heap. Things are very different today.
Walking into the hospital today and one will likely receive an order to change what one eats. Blood will be collected, analyzed, processed, and cataloged. Bizarre words will come from the mouths of staffers! They are not cursing the gods though that might be a useful skill. “Watch what you eat!” will be the order. Failing to observe this item results in another visit, most likely accompanied by the undertaker.
Going home to recover finds hundreds of chefs, cooks, and commercials haunting the airwaves and news stories of the day. Bake it! Smash it! Boil, broil, fry, and freeze it! The favorite expression of the television is, “Dump it!” Toss everything into a pot, turn on the heat, and wait a few hours. Yum!
This mayhem from the mincers in the kitchen means more pills, potions, and poultices to cure all that ails one. Best to take two, turn off the tube, and go back to bed with a large shot of one’s favorite beverage.
One has been told to eat well! Where does one go to learn how to eat better? Is it possible to learn how to flame a flan, pickle a prune, and create a goosed turkey? Is there an alternative to pizza and fluffer-nutter sandwiches? Next week, cuisine de la rue! Roadkill to dinner table at the post-secondary level.
On a more serious note, a dear acquaintance has left. Ms. Florence LaFrance set an example with her stoicism and steely resolve to move forward. One of the first patients I met at the dialysis clinic she offered humor and understanding for a new patient to the unit. It is very difficult to accept that kidneys fail. It is even harder to hope that there might be a donor out there who can give selflessly so that a long and fruitful life can be enjoyed.
Ms. LaFrance did a courageous job in meeting the challenges before her. She brought joy to many and love to all. The battle still remains and will only get larger as more people age and need dialysis. It is humbling to know such a courageous person.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in the County. He began his journalism career at WAGM television later working in many different areas of the US. After twenty years of television he changed careers and taught in China and Korea. Graduating from UMPI he earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina.
