Where Does Our Food Come From?

As I have started preparing food for Savannah to eat, it has made me much more conscious about what we are eating and where it comes from (amazing how you want your baby to eat the best but we eat junk ourselves).

I recently read an article that discussed where the UAE's food comes from since sand isn't the most hospitable for growing produce or raising livestock. The UAE imports more than 80% of their food. India is the largest exporter of food (18%), followed by Brazil (13%), China (12%), United States (10%) and Australia (8%). Of these imports, vegetables account for the highest percentage, followed by prepared foods, then meat. This dependence on imported foods doesn't help those who want to eat "locally" but the trend is unlikely to change anytime soon. The UAE does grow their own dates, cucumbers and tomatoes but not enough to serve the 5 million or so people within the country and service the many, many restaurants. (Interestingly, the country is going to start exporting their own camel milk to Europe sometime this year--so watch out it could be headed your way and nope we haven't tried camel's milk although it is supposed to be good for people who are lactose intolerant (like me), we just can't seem to take the plunge.) Needless to say grocery shopping has been quite a learning experience.

On a different note...

After our last week or so of being quarantined to the apartment we were ready to get out and about...but sometimes things don't go according to plan. We had plans to met friends at the Belgian Beer Cafe and go to the "Taste of Dubai" instead Chris and I ended up with what we think was food poisoning, so instead we spent the weekend indoors and playing "pass the baby". I had been feeling pretty good about my basic cooking skills lately, but since we got sick after eating one of my meals I have been knocked down a few pegs. We are not sure if it was the meat or vegetables I put in the spaghetti sauce but is was definitely something. (So much for making my own sauce and forgoing the Prego!) I have always been careful about cooking meat throughly and washing vegetables but will now be much more vigilant and careful.