July 20, 2004: Headlines: COS - Togo: Blogs - Togo: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Volunteer "Loudmind" in Togo: “Fat Lady Ice Cream”

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Togo: Peace Corps Togo : The Peace Corps in Togo: July 20, 2004: Headlines: COS - Togo: Blogs - Togo: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Volunteer "Loudmind" in Togo: “Fat Lady Ice Cream”

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Peace Corps Volunteer "Loudmind" in Togo: “Fat Lady Ice Cream”

Peace Corps Volunteer Loudmind in Togo: “Fat Lady Ice Cream”

"Upon my first bite, I knew there was something amiss. It tasted far too sugary. It didn’t have the familiar sweetness of tree-ripened bananas, but suggested something far more cloying and sinister. In addition, the ice cream had a strange yellowish tinge to it. I asked one of the sisters about it, and she confirmed my suspicion: they flavored their banana ice cream with syrup."

Peace Corps Volunteer "Loudmind" in Togo: “Fat Lady Ice Cream”

Tuesday, July 20, 2004
No Artificial Flavors

[Excerpt]

I suppose my opposition to artificiality began at a small ice cream shop in Lome, Togo. I frequented this place when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in that country. Its name was “Au Bon Coin de Goût” but, because it was run by two rather portly sisters, I came to call it “Fat Lady Ice Cream”. It was a great establishment, with all the ice cream made right there on the premises. The flavor assortment was impressive, with offerings such as nutmeg, peppermint, coffee, and rum. There was even an ice cream made from the local palm-sap moonshine, sodabi. Fat Lady Ice Cream was an oasis in the stifling heat of West Africa. No wrong could be done there.

Until I tried the banana ice cream.

Upon my first bite, I knew there was something amiss. It tasted far too sugary. It didn’t have the familiar sweetness of tree-ripened bananas, but suggested something far more cloying and sinister. In addition, the ice cream had a strange yellowish tinge to it. I asked one of the sisters about it, and she confirmed my suspicion: they flavored their banana ice cream with syrup.

Why, oh why, I lamented. In this tropical land of plentiful and exotic fruit, why use something non-natural, especially when all the other ice creams there were so thoroughly genuine? How can someone distill the essence of moonshine into a dessert, yet relent and use artificially-flavored syrup in banana ice cream? It was too much to take. I put down my spoon, paid my bill, and rose to leave. Something behind me grazed my ear. What was it?

The leaf of a banana tree, laden with ripening bananas. I was flabbergasted.

Since then, I have struggled to understand why artificial flavors are used when natural ones are so readily available. All I have to do is to walk through the produce section of any grocery store to see the bounty. How odd is it that one can find artificially-flavored orange gelatin directly across from crates of fresh Florida citrus? I find it more than odd; I find it utterly maddening and incredibly confusing.

Folks can talk all they want about the moral-weakening forces on television, or how sport-utility vehicles support terrorism, but to my mind there’s one force infinitely more destructive than either of those: the abundance of artificial flavors. The more they infect our food, the less natural we become.

I urge you to come join me in my outrage. I’ll be the one scowling in the Kool-Aid aisle.





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Story Source: Personal Web Site

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