An Ode to Sugar

I should have moved to Honduras when I was 6 years old: a land where adults more commonly force-feed sugar to children than vegetables.  Imagine a 10-gallon pot of fresh hot coffee, brewed over an open fire, saturated with so much sugar that some cannot even dissolve into the liquid. Then, picture caretakers ladling steaming servings of caffeine and concentrated sugar into individual cups for over fifty 4-10 year olds… to imbibe before bedtime! The kids LOVE getting coffee, a special and rare dessert that I would have surely clamored for myself (and still do- every single day).

But sugar is not so much of a treat as it is a cultural staple. How easy it would have been for me as a youngster here: instead of having to bike ride to the store to buy candy and sneakily eat my 2 bars (because that’s what a dollar USED to get you) at the neighborhood park, I could just drink a glass of milk. Oh yes, our fresh milk (which goes amazingly with oatmeal by the way), it is delectably sweetened with sugar. I do not think I have once seen a Honduran drinking water- usually just a type of liquid sugar. Pepsi, easily more popular than its Coca-Cola counterpart, is the clear beverage of choice. I would imagine a Honduran “Department of Health” notice to read: Make sure to get your recommended 8 glasses of Pepsi per day.

Sugar has infiltrated my intake as well. With my bean, rice and tortilla diet, I have started to crave food like never before: I dream of burgers, love discussing in detail the ultimate meal (usually involving steak), and relish every scoop of peanut butter from my 5 dollar jar (an import: JIF)! Since the gastronomical differences keep me from satisfying my cravings for variety, for Doritos, for burgers, for iced coffee, I have resorted to sugar: Pepsi, little cookies called “Chicky’s” (shortbread half-covered in chocolate), and also the rare American food finds like Snack Packs of chocolate pudding, or melted Snickers bars! A meal for me goes like this: I sprint to the kitchen with my food gear hoping for something new. I eat a plate of beans with a side of montequilla (a typical cheese product that’s a combination of cheez-whiz, cream cheese and sour cream). My stomach growls for mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets, and chocolate ice cream. I feed it Pepsi, Chicky’s and more beans. Sugar is my catch-all solution to such frequent cravings.

But, as my mother and dentist taught me, sugar is not paradise. There is a darker side to this “dulce” phenomenon: terrible lack of nutrition, cavities, diabetes. Unfortunately, many poorer Honduran families, forced by economic circumstance, view sugar as the salvation to providing substantial meals to their children. Such Honduran kids are fed lollipops instead of beans and rice. In a country where sugar and coffee may be grown in the backyard, it is both cheaper and to send a child to the “pulperia” for a Pepsi or sucker than it is to feed them a dinner, let alone a well balanced one. Thus we have: malnutrition, stunted growth, rotted out teeth. When I first got here I felt pity for the living conditions of the kids on the NPH ranch. But as I continue to learn the nature of their families, and even their DIET, I realize that beans, eggs, and rice are a feast. One of my fellow volunteers came here to work at an NPH outreach program: the “Comedor Infantile” where young kids can come for a hearty meal each day. The kids at NPH are guaranteed sustenance 3-times daily. Ah perspective!

While I have started to tolerate my “rico” plates of beans, I know that sugar is definitely an element of Honduran culture that I can easily adjust to! Hail to Chicky’s!

Note to Nana: I have been diligently taking my vitamins. Also, every week we fill a wheelbarrow full of produce from the hortaliza here: lettuce, tomatoes, melons, oranges, mangoes, platanas, and on lucky days, avocados!!