Book launch encourages Seychellois to grow and eat their own food
Almasalla- Arab Travel Portal News – Popular demand for Nature Seychelles innovative book Grow and Eat Your Own Food Seychelles has lead to the release of a superior second edition, three years after the first version was printed. The book is about sowing, saucing and savoring home grown food .
"I first came across this book on the desk of a district administrator who was using it to set up a community garden," Minister for Community Development, Social Affairs and Sports, Vincent Meriton said of the book during the launch. "When I tried to get my own copy it had already gone out of print, an indication of how popular it had become."
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The second edition of Grow and Eat Your Own Food Seychelles displays the copious cooking and healing chattels of endemic and rare plants, fruits and vegetables found on the islands. This version goes further to include a list of recipes from local restaurants on preparing cocktails, salads and other Seychellois dishes .
"An indelible part of our culture is our cuisine," Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St.Ange said in his speech before accepting the first copy of the book from Minister Meriton. "Creole gastronomy includes plants that may seem exotic to our European tourists: manioc, yam, taro, breadfruit, plantains, snake gourd, and all sorts of tropical fruits."
The soon to be opened Botanica Restaurant, and the venue of the book launch, was the perfect setting for the launch. The restaurant, which showcases traditional Creole architecture, will be serving international cuisines with a Seychelles twist. Guests at the launch sampled some of this during the event. "I spent over a year time visiting local farmers sourcing for local ingredients,and experimenting with new dishes on my friends " Christelle Verheyden, proprietor of the Botanica confirmed to her guests.
Grow and Eat your Own food Seychelles has its roots, so to speak, at the Nature Seychelles’ Heritage Garden at Roche Caiman. The garden has a wealth of plants used in traditional cuisine and medicine. "Forgotten" plants like the pom edwar can be found here.
The garden and book both act as preservers and promoters of the rich Seychellois culture while encouraging Seychellois to live healthier by growing their own food. The book provides a step a by step guide on starting, planting and caring for your own garden.
With Seychelles importing most of its produce, growing your own garden adds to food security and can be a supplementary income earner. "Food and nutrition security are essential components of resilience. Food must not only be about farms and supermarkets,"says Minister Vincent Meriton.
“This is ostensibly a book on gardening but it is actually an attempt to get sustainability by stealth,” says Dr. Nirmal Shah, Nature Seychelles Chief Executive. “ Many people turn off when NGOs talk about sustainability because they think it’s about going backwards. We think having a garden and producing your own food is a relatively painless route to good health, fitness, and looking and feeling better. It’s also good for the pocket and the planet.”
