I am from

I am from beans

from a beautiful valley

and the summer rain tears.

I am from my used kettle –

chaotic, steamy,

ready to comfort. 

 

From God’s garden.

From Jesus

and Celine.

From Belgian sage

and hierba santa.

 

I am from the molcajete

grinding the chiles,

mole,

blackberries,

and family dinners.

 

 

 

My name is Fernanda Díaz-Osorio (She/her/hers). I was born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Growing up, I had lunch almost daily at my parents’ restaurants. I think that experience, without me realizing it, made me want to better understand the food systems.

In 8th grade, I lived in a boarding school in Switzerland and in 11th grade in Haute Normandie, France. One of the things I remember the most about both experiences is the food.

 

I am a senior student in the faculty of Land and Food Systems in the Global Resource Systems (GRS) program. I am a soil lover, and I enjoy Econ classes. My GRS program allowed me to learn first hand from different farmers. I love spending time at the UBC Farm and visiting farms in British Columbia.  Two summers ago, I took an Agroecology program and worked on a lamb farm in Lyon, France. My time on the farm made me want to learn more about food systems directly from the producers. Last summer, to keep learning,  I decided to do some volunteering on a farm-cooperative in Belgium.

I am in love with my GRS program. It has allowed me to acquire a solid scientific foundation while exploring my interests from a more holistic approach, taking classes from across all faculties. While I have studied European food systems for the last couple of years, I realized I had not taken the time to explore, academically, Latin American food systems. That is why I ended up here. I was browsing my SSC, and I found this class. I read the description and felt like it was written for me (obviously it wasn’t).

 

I am very excited to keep learning about food from Dr. Mitchell and from all of you.

 

Picture 1: Tomatoes, Las Quince Letras, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Picture 2: December 2018, Museo de Filatelia, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Picture 3: Summer 2019, Ferme de Froidefontaine, Barcy, Belgium.