Arjun Adapalli’s experiences from the recently concluded Deepening Roots workshop.
This past weekend, I had attended the Deepening Roots course along with 7 other participants. The course was taught by Lashanda Greene, who was a wonderful person and a great teacher! I really didn't know what to expect from this course at first. I had been thinking for a while about keeping a healthier diet and taking care of my health, but I wasn't very much into gardening, and I didn't know if I would really have much to take away from this course, since gardening was one of the main focuses. Aravind Krishnan the coordinator, was insisting that I sign up for the course. This weekend wasn't too ridiculously busy so I decided to take it anyway.
In retrospect, I'm glad I took the course. We learned a lot about the harmful chemicals that are put into the food that we eat on an everyday basis, due to the current system of food production. Even though I already knew a bit about the issues prior to taking the course (and so did many other participants), I still learned many things about the environmental issues associated with the food industry that I didn't know beforehand. We also focused on the effects of certain foods on our body, and how they affect things like the pH and energy levels in our body. Lashanda gave us great suggestions on what foods to look out for, and she even taught us some tasty and simple vegan recipes. We had a "raw veggie" feast at the end of the first day, which was surprisingly really good. And after taking the course, I find myself feeling less interested in eating oily junk foods and taking multiple visits to the salad bar during lunch. The contrast in how i feel between eating raw veggies and eating junk food is even more clear, thanks to this course.
And as for the gardening aspect of it, even though I'm not super interested in gardening, it was very interesting to learn the different strategies of gardening. It really isn't as simple as throwing seeds in the dirt and watering, there's a lot more to it than one may think. And who knows, maybe I'll start working with the garden that my parents have at our place, and grow some of my own food to consume.
I hope this incredibly long posting has made it clear to you all that I really valued this experience. I definitely recommend taking this course if you have a desire to improve your health and change the way you eat!
