Yams and tubers.

Today while wandering through a local store, I stumbled on a glorious display of yams and tubers that reminded me of home - Ghana. They looked like they had jumped out of the markets back home. Their likeness was unique. These tubers looked exactly like the tubers we were used to seeing on the market stalls and farms in Ghana. It was a moment of culture, a recognition of how we are strongly bound to eat local, even in different parts of the world.

What surprised me even more was the price. It was considerably cheaper than I was expecting, given the distance they presumably travelled and the idea that they grow in climates similarly to theirs everywhere in the world. This further illustrates how local staples like yams and tubers are only accessible but continued to be cared for beyond our borders. That is reassuring. So many people around the world still value and take advantage of a rich and nutritious food source.

This made me stop and think more about how food connects different people. the yam can traverse continents and cultures. Whether in Ghana or somewhere else, yams and tubers still feed families, provide people with income in local economies, and hopefully continue to preserve traditions. I am glad to take the little experience I had today to express some happiness to you and invoke the experience of local foods that travel so very far but still feel like home.