Last week I was invited to speak to Arizona's Indian Health Services dietitians at the Phoenix Indian Medical Center. One of the dietitians from Navajo Country, brought a book along that was a compiled, translated glossary of words the Navajos use when describing food. It was designed to help better communicate with a population of people plagued with insulin resistance and diabetes.
Some of the translations made me chuckle:
Biscuit — round bread baked and placed in an oven
French bread — bread that reclines
White bread — bread from the grocery store, White People's bread
Barbecued/grilled — breeze beneath it
Green beans — beans that lay down
Broccoli — bronchial tube-like vegetable (they have a word for bronchial tube but not broccoli?)
Carrots — rabbit food
Cucumber — slender canteloupe
Coconut — large seed with milk inside
Dates — sticky tree fruit
Pear — apple with a tail
Tofu — coagulated Asian peoples' beans
Sugar substitute — female sugar (I have to say this one with its cultural commentary is definitely my favorite!)
What really caught my attention was the way some of our common processed foods were described. When the marketing pizzazz is taken away and the food is described for exactly what it is…suddenly it doesn't sound so appealing any more. I got to thinking if we as dietitians stopped even using chemical mumbo jumbo and told it like the Navajos do…there likely wouldn't be such a demand for some of these foods anymore.
Cold cereal — flakes with sugar placed upon them
Donuts — sweet bread consumed with coffee
Canned fruit — canned sweets
Chocolate — oily candy
Hydrogenated fat — coagulated oil
Vegetable oil — smelly fat
Sweet bread fried in coagulated oil, anyone?
If you're interested in learning more about this book and project, click here. I was impressed with the thoroughness and attention to detail. Kudos to all IHS nutrition professionals for the challenging and important work that they do!