SQUARE SANDWICHES

Former Student Friends (FSF's) and I share a group on FB. Aside from solving all of the world's problems on the page, we engage in, sometimes, very interesting discourse about almost anything. An interesting question was posed yesterday: "What food did you eat as a child that you hated?" Everyone had various answers from brussel sprouts to chitlins. My answer was grits and oatmeal because I ate both too many times, and to this day, I refuse to eat either. It was very interesting to see what role food plays in our lives. One person's answer intrigued me. She mentioned how when she was in school, everyone had square sandwiches, but she had to take chorizo burritos or scrambled eggs and potato burritos. She said she wanted to hide in the bathroom to eat her lunch. Those words reminded me of how we really are what we eat. As a child of Caribbean themed Miami, I can't survive without a freezer full of conch. I was in Heaven in Nassau last week when I went to an outdoor restaurant "under the bridge" and saw the man take the conch out of the shell and make conch salad. My sister and I ate that fresh salad and relished the memories it brought. Interestingly enough, this is no longer a "square sandwich" world. It is a beautiful new world, where brussel sprouts, tortillas, pho, conch fritters, collard greens, chiltins, and bitter melon, can all be appreciated. There are those who recently relied upon the "square sandwich eaters," and found out that they were not enough. Inclusivity involves letting all foods reign! There is no need to be embarrassed anymore by what we eat, what we look like, what we wear, what we believe, who we love, how we love, when we love. I love this new world order! I am a cross-cultural eater because it reflects my beliefs. So eat, even if it's a square sandwich, recognizing that that is not all there is anymore!