Photograph by Wedig & Laxton
You are what you eat. It’s a simple philosophy, and one that Agatha Achindu, who recently released her newest cookbook, Bountiful Cooking: Wholesome Everyday Meals to Nourish You and Your Family, grew up with. The Atlanta nutritionist, speaker, chef, teacher, and founder of national baby food brand Yummy Spoonfuls believes that incorporating vibrant fruits and vegetables into your daily diet is the ticket to a healthy life. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Not in the U.S., according to Achindu, a native of Cameroon. Here, we are surrounded by processed foods, frozen dinners, and sugar-laden cereals. We talked with Achindu about how she taps into her West African upbringing to encourage people to think of food as a healing force. Editor’s note: This conversation has been edited slightly for space and clarity.
You grew up in Cameroon on your family farm. What did you grow there?
We grew everything. Plantains, cocoa, and fruits.
There was fresh produce all around you. It’s no wonder you developed healthy eating habits.
It was a way of life that made you get up every morning. The food that you would eat that day was made that day. Life was not as hectic as it is here. We didn’t think of it as healthy. But for sweets, we ate fresh mango, fresh guava, fresh pineapple.
You moved to the U.S. when you were 23. What were your first impressions of life in the U.S., including food?
If you’ve ever watched Coming to America [the 1988 movie starring Eddie Murphy], that fantasy was the image I had in my head before I moved here. Looking at magazines, all these glossy pictures of what America was like, I just thought America would be perfect.
When I came here [as a university student], it was such a cultural shock for me. The houses were big, but the people looked sick. In magazines, they are all smiling, so happy. We went to the grocery store, and there was a lot of packaged food. I asked my housemate, Where is the food? And my…
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