Food For Thought

Bitter Notes: Spilling the Coffee

Coffee plant, Kenya, Library of Congress, Matson Collection

Throughout history fermentation has been used as a tool for food preservation. This ancient culinary technology has been cultivated by humans since 10.000 years. It embodies aspects of transformation, preservation, accessibility, diversity, health and care. With the help of microbes nutrition from substances that would otherwise be harmful or difficult to digest could be generated but also foods stored throughout the seasons and kept from spoiling. Fermented foods are not only full of delicious new flavors, they are healthy, nutritious and better digestible. 

“The basic confrontation which seemed to be colonialism versus anti-colonialism, indeed capitalism versus socialism, is already losing its importance. What matters today, the issue which blocks the horizon, is the need for a redistribution of wealth. Humanity will have to address this question, no matter how devastating the consequences may be.”
― Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

We encounter fermentation every day – in coffee, bread, pickles, olives, vinegar, miso, soy sauce, cheese, wine or beer. Fermented foods play an important part of a healthy, balanced diet and can improve our gut health which is directly linked to how we feel. They can help balance our gut bacteria and improve our digestive health. The digestive tract is teeming with some 100 trillion bacteria and other microorganisms, says Dr. David S. Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. By breaking down of some of the sugars and starches in foods, fermented foods can be easier for our bodies to absorb and digest. Plus, fermentation changes and adds nutrients in foods. For example, by eating fermented vegetables, we get vitamin B12, which otherwise isn't present in plant foods, says Dr. Ludwig. One of the various health benefits comes from probiotics*, the live microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts) in fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, tempeh and pickles (*not to be confused with prebiotics, foods that are high in fiber like greens, whole grains and soybeans. Also not the pickles pickled in vinegar and sugars, these do not contain probiotics). While some pickles are sour because they’re soaked in acidic brine using vinegar (and sugar), fermented foods are because of the chemical reactions between the natural sugars in the food and bacteria, which produce healthy probiotics. Probiotics are linked to helping reduce stress levels and increase overall mental health.

“For a colonized people the most essential value, because the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity.”
― Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth

Throughout history fermentation has been used as a tool for food preservation. This ancient culinary technology has been cultivated by humans since 10.000 years. It embodies aspects of transformation, preservation, accessibility, diversity, health and care. With the help of microbes nutrition from substances that would otherwise be harmful or difficult to digest could be generated but also foods stored throughout the seasons and kept from spoiling. Fermented foods are not only full of delicious new flavors, they are healthy, nutritious and better digestible. 

“There are more bacteria in your gut than stars in our galaxy.”

We encounter fermentation every day – in coffee, bread, pickles, olives, vinegar, miso, soy sauce, cheese, wine or beer. Fermented foods play an important part of a healthy, balanced diet and can improve our gut health which is directly linked to how we feel. They can help balance our gut bacteria and improve our digestive health. The digestive tract is teeming with some 100 trillion bacteria and other microorganisms, says Dr. David S. Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. By breaking down of some of the sugars and starches in foods, fermented foods can be easier for our bodies to absorb and digest. Plus, fermentation changes and adds nutrients in foods. For example, by eating fermented vegetables, we get vitamin B12, which otherwise isn't present in plant foods, says Dr. Ludwig. One of the various health benefits comes from probiotics*, the live microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts) in fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, tempeh and pickles (*not to be confused with prebiotics, foods that are high in fiber like greens, whole grains and soybeans. Also not the pickles pickled in vinegar and sugars, these do not contain probiotics). While some pickles are sour because they’re soaked in acidic brine using vinegar (and sugar), fermented foods are because of the chemical reactions between the natural sugars in the food and bacteria, which produce healthy probiotics. Probiotics are linked to helping reduce stress levels and increase overall mental health.