Story by Danay Barrera, Summer 2020
I was not a healthy kid. Much of my diet consisted of frozen meals and prepackaged food. My mom worked a lot, and as a consequence was not able to cook meals for my siblings and I from scratch every day. The meals that she did cook were not always healthy. My mom learned to cook the meals she grew up eating as a kid when her family didn't have access to a lot of produce. The lack of fresh produce was negatively impacting my health. I remember that during one of my doctor’s appointments, in middle school, my doctor advised me that I needed to watch my weight because I was getting too heavy. This in turn negatively affected my self-esteem, and it didn’t help that my own mother would point out my weight. While the foods I ate tasted good in my mouth, I knew that they weren’t good for my body- inside or out.
I think the first time I heard about spinach was when my aunt was making herself a green smoothie. She was raving about the health benefits of the fruit and vegetable packed drinks. I thought they tasted kind of gross, but that’s what healthy food tastes like, right? At least that’s what I used to think. Spinach, I discovered, doesn’t taste gross. It actually doesn’t taste like much. It has a very subtle, green, clean taste (unless you try different varieties of spinach; some of them are pretty bitter).
Eventually, I started putting spinach in my sandwiches, fruit smoothies, and mixed with the food my mom cooked for us. It was an easy way to add nutrition to my meals. It helped me feel better about what I was eating, and it encouraged me to try other healthy foods. Spinach functioned as a gateway green to kale. Now, my meals are much more fruit and vegetable heavy. I have a better relationship with food and my body.