"Todya muriwo nemapotato", This was a talk of the street. The phrase in English means " eating vegetables and potatoes". The President of Zimbabwe, His Excellency Cde Emerson D Mnangagwa spoke those words when the was addressing people at the national clean up campaign day. The crowd was not in agreement with the president on being vegetarians, to give up meat. The talk inspired me to write something on vegetable eating reaction in Zimbabwe. 

Responding to people’s concerns on high meat prices, Mnangagwa said, “…Ahh! Meat! How about vegetables? Doctors recommend that people should eat vegetables,” he said amid grumblings from the crowd, adding, “doctors want you to eat vegetables so that you will be healthy, meat is not good for you …” ~ Voice of Zimbabwe media. This received mixed reactions among Zimbabweans. The issue here was of consuming food that is environmental sustainable which is plants. 

The food we are consume has a link to the environment.  We should consume food that does not damage the environment. Plants can be grown and they improve the oxygen levels as opposed to animals which increase the methane levels and carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere therefore causing the greenhouse effect. We should be environmental responsible to control the climate change through changing our diets also. Furthermore the vegetables are healthy with low fat and high vitamins which help us to keep a healthier body.

On the otherhand people reactions are justified culturally as the Zimbabwe culture suggest that meat means a good lifestyle. People should be fat and that suggests that one is living life and no troubles in one's life. "Idyai nyama mukore", a Shona phrase meaning that one have to eat meat to get fat. People are reluctant and resistant to change their cultural habits as before they were hunters and due to colonization they are reluctant to change as eating vegetables is deemed as foreign culture. 

On this report I want to share a traditional recipe of vegetable meat balls made of pumpkin seeds. I learnt it from my late great-grandmother and remind people that even in our culture we eat vegetables. In this rain reason gather wild vegetables such as edible mushroom, munyevhe and okra so that we are healthy. You can gather them in nearby areas around one and also for free. 

Mabumbe sounds labour intensive but they are not. First the pumpkin seeds are dried, then roasted a little over a hot fire.  Then they need to be pounded — and of course down home in Mutoko this is all done by hand — into a fine meal and sieved into flour. The pumpkin flour is mixed into hot water and kneaded to get rid of excess oil (which can be kept for cooking). Finally shape into round cakes and cook in boiling water — then finish with onion and tomato cooked into a flavoursome soup. I am definitely going to try them out — but will have to resort to an electric grinder to get the flour in the first place! Packed with nutrition — iron, protein and B vitamins as well as vitamin E — this is clearly a super food.

I also loved the cowpea fritters — made from cow peas soaked and cooked till soft, then mashed and mixed with eggs, onion and salt before being deep fried. Very moreish!