Fermentation Lamentation
Towards fermented foods I was wary and suspicious
How could something left to rot turn out so delicious?
And surely it would be bad for one’s well-being
I don’t understand, is there something I’m not seeing?
It is backwards from everything that I learnt about food
Upside down and inside out is what I conclude
But wait, maybe I should look a little deeper
Since homemade sauerkraut is definitely cheaper!
Okay *takes a deep breath* I’m ready to learn more
I just hope that I don’t die or collapse onto the floor
If the ‘bad’ food poisons me or the microbes eat my liver
These potential threats makes me all a quiver!
Maybe I’ll just make a tincy tiny jar of kraut
And it if attacks me someone will come to help if I shout
I’m living on the edge by using this ‘ancient technique’
Not sterilising everything makes me faint and weak
But now about fermenting I cannot stop lamenting
And if I don’t ferment up I get pent up and start venting!
I hardly spent a cent and oh how far that cabbage went
I keep trying to invent a new ferment and won’t relent
It’s like I’ve been reborn into a new person
I’m not sure how much more this new addiction could worsen
Now I’m rolling in microbes, bacteria and fermentation
And yet I haven’t died and even feel elation!
I’ve learnt to trust the natural process that I once feared
I’ve been deprogrammed and my head has cleared
My social beliefs have been eaten by the bacterium
And I’ve come out of the collective paranoid delirium
Thank you to the educators who deliver us the truth
And tell us to test it for ourselves if we want proof
We are getting back to working with the land
Being economical and making things by hand
We are regaining self-sufficiency and knowledge once lost
The benefits are fruitful and it’s a fragment of the cost
The sense of achievement that comes with doing the above
Is a way to fill ourselves and those around us with love!
Let’s proceed on our adventure into the world of fermentation
So that with the natural world we improve our relation
Becoming one with the elements and the earth
A project that for many reasons has such valued worth