October 26, 2011

Cibophobia: The Fear of New Food

As a child, I used to leave those weird looking vegetables in my plate, or remove those mushrooms from my pizza. I refused to try those shrimps mom prepared, or the Okra stew with rice stew, or even the asparagus soup. I was afraid to eat fruits except apples and bananas. Back then I was a picky eater but as I grew up, I started having the courage to explore most of them.But of course this “pickiness” remains deep inside me every time I want to eat something new.Sensory Scientists named this “pickiness” as Cibophobia or food neophobia, the reluctance and sometimes avoidance to eat novel foods. It is immensely affected by one's culture, gender, age, and educational, social, economical status as well as the place of residence: urban versus rural.

Students: Down with Noodles, Cooking is the Way

As much as living alone or away from home during college days is arduous and hectic, as much as a college student can learn so many things , like managing his/her own life, taking full responsibility of what he/ she is doing, learning special techniques, or even developing “super power” skills in accommodating with roommates ..etc. Cooking is one of those special techniques you have to develop. Take it from a person who has been living 6 years away from home.

And there might be a “valid “reason why you need to start cooking. Eating is perhaps one of the most things that make your parents worry about mostly during your first year in University. Simply, they are not used to the fact that you are not dining with them at home, and from their own food.How many times did your mother call you to check up on what did you eat for lunch, or perhaps to remind you to buy food from the grocery? But, with all your courses, clubs’ activities, social life, and sometimes part time work, you actually have no time to plan your eating. And so, you dismiss this question as annoying, maybe intruding, because you can easily manage eating just anything around!

Blog Action Day 2011: Stabilizing Food Prices

This year blog action day coincides with World Food Day. That's why bloggers today, and from around the world, will be solely talking about "Food" , for creating awareness, sharing interesting information and facts, or just for discussing the controversies in agriculture, nutrition and food technologies. To follow the discussion: Click here.

Importantly, I would like to shed the light on the dilemma that is affecting every single individual in this world, which is the increase in food prices!
For that, I will be sharing what FAO is calling for on this day: Food Prices Stabilization.
Why?
Because millions of people around the world live in chronic hunger, not to forget the horrible Crisis in theHorn of Africa, which was not just because of the dreadful drought but also due to many economical reasons.
When food prices fluctuate wildly as they have in recent years, it's the poor who are hit the hardest. World Food Day 2011 calls on the global community to do what's needed to stabilize food prices.
Here is the videoby FAO : "FOOD PRICES -- FROM CRISIS TO STABILITY" to shed some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.

And for this day also ,The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Program (WFP) are celebrating World Food Day 2011 tomorrow 17 October with a series of speeches by visiting guests and performances by celebrity goodwill ambassadors. More on this story.
Follow : World Food Day on Twitter: #worldfoodday and #wfd2011
And the Ceremony Live .

Support One.org campaign to end famine by just clicking :

Watch the short video that was launched with the help of Bono, Colin Farrell, George Clooney, K’naan, Annie Lennox and many other famous faces and that was banned ONLY in the U.K just yesterday.