Features
Eating ourselves to the grave
We eat to live, right? A good, balanced and healthy diet, we are told, keeps the doctor away. Food is the only natural and most effective medicine known to Man. The only adverse medical conditions that I know could cause death are bulimia and anorexia. I cook; and I love cooking. Being a vegetarian even makes it more imperative for me to be mindful of what I eat. As a result I frequent the market for my groceries.
What I see in the market these days gives me the creeps. I have taken my time to figure out how some of the foodstuffs we buy are treated, and my findings reveal an astonishing array of ignorance and downright evil intent from some of the traders in our markets.
Let me deal with the easy consumables. In order to maximise profits some traders resort to mixing groundnut paste with cassava powder, locally called kokonte. This gives a bigger volume to the paste and the customer is none the wiser. Assuming you were a diabetic who must avoid starch at all costs, what do you think this will do to your health? Avocado seed is chopped into little bits, dried, ground and mixed with powdered pepper. I am told avocado seed contains medicinal properties, but that cannot be the reason traders do this.
Palm oil is mixed with a toxic red dye to give it a more attractive red colour. Paradoxically, palm oil is one of the healthiest consumable vegetable oils in our parts. The others are groundnut oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil and Shea butter oil. Similar colouring is done to salted lamb chunks (popularly called tolo-bifi) by the market women for whatever reasons known only to them. That I am a vegetarian does not mean I should not be concerned with what others consume. When my daughters were in the University, and because I had no right to impose my diet on them, I would go to the market to get condiments to prepare soups and stews for them.
Why do these traders do this? Is it because they are ignorant of the consequences of their actions or it is just a diabolic, evil intent to harm their clients/consumers? I once asked a woman who sold salted mutton chunks at the Kaneshie market in Accra if she ate the dyed meat at home. Her response was that because she sold it, it was like she had seen too much of it so it ceased to be a part of her diet.
I bought veal, mutton, crabs, salmon, tuna, tilapia and other smoked fish to cook for my children. Having been brought up near the coast, I knew good fish when I saw one. The only thing I excluded from the meals to my children was cow-hide (wele) because it has no nutritional value whatsoever. It was a delicacy for them though.
Let me take on the cooked food sellers briefly: Personally, I hardly eat from outside my home. However, occasionally I go for sinkafa-da-waakye (cooked rice and beans), but to save firewood, the women add too much of saltpeter (they call it kanwe) to soften the beans fast. Now, kenkey, another staple has joined the fray for saltpeter application, to the extent that kenkey has become so soft you can hardly leave it without refrigeration for a day without it going bad. Just a decade and a half ago I could leave kenkey on my dining table for a week,then heat it up for consumption. Kenkey cannot stay in the fridge for a week nowadays. It turns mouldy rather quickly.
Then is all manner of poisonous seasoning all over the place in the guise of spices. Potassium glutamate readily comes to mind. Some of these things add a false appetising aroma to the cooked food just to entice the consumer. Some of these come in the form of cubes, the favourite of lazy housewives. What has happened to the natural spices of garlic, onion/shallot, kpakposhitor, ginger, nutmeg and cloves blended together?
A health consultant tells me that excessive saltpeter consumption corrodes the mucus that lines the intestinal walls, thus slowing down movement of what we ingest down the digestive track. This, according to her, causes pain as the food rubs against the exposed walls of the intestine. Sadly, our health authorities are more interested in checking the health status of the food vendors not the quality of the food they sell to the public.
Do we blame the poor food vendor? Less than two decades ago Ghana flared Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) into the atmosphere. Then some smart alec decided we could encourage our countrymen to stop cutting down trees for firewood so they could use the LPG for domestic use instead. The reason was to prevent deforestation. Ghanaians bought into the idea and started patronising the LPG, realising it was cheaper than firewood. As I write, LPG is beyond the reach of the ordinary Ghanaian. Petroleum products have become the cash-cow for tax revenue.
Now, back to the traders. In fact, they can be forgiven for some of the stuff they sell. A few years ago I used to buy tomatoes in bulk, spread them out on newsprint on the floor and use them as and when I needed them. Right now, ripe tomatoes cannot last three days in the fridge. Same goes for many vegetables. You cannot keep okra for more than a day; it will develop dark blotches on the skin. Same goes with green pepper, cauliflower and many of the green leafy vegetables.
We used to keep yams for weeks, but if you take a tuber of yam now you have to ensure you cook the whole tuber else it gets rotten the very next day. Even if the rest is refrigerated it must be cooked within 48 hours. Our agriculture scientists are not telling us what is going on. Is anything wrong with the soil? Does this phenomenon have to do with the agro-chemicals used by the farmers? Why is no one telling us anything?
I saw a video clip of lettuce being washed with detergent. I watched another where what looked like spinach is soaked in some chemical solution so it would look fresh to the consumer. Mango, avocado, orange and papaya are doused with chemicals to speed up their ripening.
I hear there is an Authority on food and drugs. Can someone please tell me what they do? I ask because methinks we are eating ourselves to the grave and no one seems to care about us. Let me also ask if we have standards for the food we eat or the stuff we purchase? Do we have those? We are constantly admonished to eat healthy, yet the things we buy to put together as a meal give us cause for worry. Is it any wonder cases of diabetes are on the rise? Liver and kidney ailments are on the increase. What do the people we put in charge of our very existence do with statistics from our health facilities? Until they wake up to the reality and save us, shall we continue to eat ourselves to the grave?
By Dr. Akofa K. Segbefia
akofa45@yahoo.com
Conflict at work is more common than you might think. According to 2022 research by The Myers-Briggs Company, more than a third of the workforce reports dealing with conflict often, very often, or all the time in the workplace.
Addressing a dispute might feel tense or awkward, but resolving the conflict is typically well worth it in the long run. Whether you are trying to mediate conflict between colleagues or are directly involved. Last week we looked at three and this week is the remaining four steps you can take to manage workplace conflict.
4. Find common ground
The best way to handle workplace conflict is to start with what you can agree on. Find common ground between the people engaging in conflict. If you are directly involved in the conflict, slow down and focus on results instead of who’s right.
If you are the mediator for conflict resolution between coworkers, observe the discussion and help point out the common ground others may not see.
5. Collectively brainstorm solutions
When deciding how to handle workplace conflict, it can be tempting to problem-solve on your own. Sometimes, it feels easier to work independently rather than collaboratively. However, if you want to achieve a lasting resolution, you will need to motivate your team to get involved.
Brainstorm possible solutions together, and solicit input from everyone involved on the pros and cons of each option until you settle on a solution that feels comfortable to everyone. This will help all team members feel a sense of ownership that can help prevent future conflicts.
6. Create an action plan
Once you have created an open dialogue around workplace conflicts, it is time to resolve them. Just like any other work goal, this requires creating a concrete plan and following through.
Create an action plan and then act on it. It does not matter what the plan is, as long as you commit to it and resolve the conflict as a result.
7. Reflect on what you learned
All conflicts offer an opportunity to grow and become a better communicator. Identify what went well and what did not.
Work with your whole team to gather learnings from the conflict so you can avoid similar situations in the future.
Today, I continue with my narration of personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland, with a focus on Mr Joseph Osei Amoah.
Mr Amoah is one of the senior members of the Ghanaian community in Finland and a top member of the Ghana Union Finland, an association of the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
He is an active and a well-respected person in the Ghanaian community in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah moved to Finland in the mid-1990s, and he has lived in Helsinki all this time.
Accomplishments and honours
It is important to recount accomplishments as part of the success stories of the personalities of Ghanaian descent in Finland in order to highlight their exploits both within the Ghanaian migrant community and in the wider Finnish society.
Mr Amoah holds a Master’s degree in Demography from the University of Helsinki. At the time he came to Finland in 1994, he had majored in Economics at the Bachelor’s level at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Sometimes affectionately called “Chairman” in the Ghanaian migrant community, Mr Osei is a former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) branch in Finland, assuming office around 2015, a few months after the branch was formed, until 2019 when he did not run again for the elections. He helped to bring vibrancy into the NPP Finland branch.
Religious life
Mr Amoah is a prominent member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland. In spite of his busy working life and other responsibilities, he remains a committed member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland.
He plays a key leadership role in the church, which is attended by many Ghanaian migrants and other African migrants, Finns, and those of other nationalities.
His position in Asanteman Finland
Mr Osei Amoah is an outstanding member of the Asanteman Finland, where he is the Gyasehene, a prominent position as a sub-chief in the Asante (and Akan) royal hierarchy, in the functioning of the traditional authority systemgenerally in Ghana.
The Asanteman Finland is an association formed purposely with the aim of supporting each other as well as to ensure unity among its members and others outside of the group.
One of its top priorities of Asanteman Finland is to display the Asante culture in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah finds this as very important since by upholding the traditional culture and heritage, the association enables its members and especially the young ones to get the chance to learn and appreciate Asante and Ghanaian cultural values. They do this through rites such as marriage, the naming ceremony, and death and funeral rites, which makes the people to learn more of their provenance and not forget their origins.
“My point is that, by displaying the traditional heritage it helps people to learn more about their provenance. For, I think it will be embarrassing to go home and see that even the young ones have much knowledge about how to perform certain rites whilst those of us in the diaspora may be deficient in understanding those practices”, he argued. It is also very important for the young ones who are born in Finland to learn what the culture of their original society is, he continued.
The Finnish educational system
Mr Osei has a lot to say about the Finnish educational system, which he sees as very good. “When we came to Finland, education was free. There were library books and manuscripts readily available in the library, and one could print or make as many photocopies as possible for your studies. There was more flexibility. One could read books and write exams on them for the necessary grades in order to complete your studies”. In his opinion, Ghana could learn much from the Finnish system, which is one of the best in the world.
He said the only initial challenge he found in Finland was how to master the Finnish language, without which it was difficult to get a job befitting one’s status after the studies. But things have changed today and there are many English courses so it is easy to study and get a job that matches your studies, especially in the area of ICT, he said.
His role in the Ghanaian community
Mr Osei Amoah has been very active in the Ghanaian community, as I have indicated earlier. He is still very active in the Ghana Union Finland, and has played a leadership in many functions organised by the Union, as a non-governmental organisation for the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
Mr Amoah has been a counsellor and mentor who has guided many young Ghanaian migrants on their career paths and has also been part in settling various kinds of conflicts between opposing parties or persons. In conclusion, I would say Mr Osei Amoah has succeeded in embossing his name in the golden pages of visionary Ghanaians in both Sweden and Finland.
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
