full transcript
From the Ted Talk by Pierre Thiam: A forgotten ancient grain that could help Africa prosper
Unscramble the Blue Letters
There are many challenges in turning fonio into food. Traditional processing is laborious and time-consuming, especially when compared to other grains. Well, tlklfuahny, technology has evolved. And there are now machines that can process fonio in a more efficient way. And as a metatr of fact, a few years ago, Sanoussi Diakité, a Senegalese engineer, won a Rolex prize for his invention of the first mhzenicaed fonio processor. tdoay, such machines are making life much eeisar for pdruceros around the whole sehal region.
Another challenge is the colonial mentality that what comes from the west is best. This tencdeny to look down on our own products and to see crops like fonio as simply "country peoples' food," therefore substandard, explains why even though we don't produce wheat in Senegal traditionally, it is far easier to find baguettes or crsotsnais in the streets of daakr than it is to find any fonio purdctos. This same mindset popularized the overprocessed, leftover rice debris known as "broken rice," which was imported to Senegal from Indochina and introduced by the colonial fncerh. Soon, broken rice became a key ingredient in our national dish, thiéboudienne, replacing our own traditional, more nutritious arciafn rice, Oryza glaberrima. Ironically, the same African rice desespid at home was hailed abroad. Indeed, during the Atlantic slave trade, this rice became a major crop in the Americas ... particularly in the Carolinas where it was nicknamed, "Carolina gold."
Open Cloze
There are many challenges in turning fonio into food. Traditional processing is laborious and time-consuming, especially when compared to other grains. Well, __________, technology has evolved. And there are now machines that can process fonio in a more efficient way. And as a ______ of fact, a few years ago, Sanoussi Diakité, a Senegalese engineer, won a Rolex prize for his invention of the first __________ fonio processor. _____, such machines are making life much ______ for _________ around the whole _____ region.
Another challenge is the colonial mentality that what comes from the west is best. This ________ to look down on our own products and to see crops like fonio as simply "country peoples' food," therefore substandard, explains why even though we don't produce wheat in Senegal traditionally, it is far easier to find baguettes or __________ in the streets of _____ than it is to find any fonio ________. This same mindset popularized the overprocessed, leftover rice debris known as "broken rice," which was imported to Senegal from Indochina and introduced by the colonial ______. Soon, broken rice became a key ingredient in our national dish, thiéboudienne, replacing our own traditional, more nutritious _______ rice, Oryza glaberrima. Ironically, the same African rice ________ at home was hailed abroad. Indeed, during the Atlantic slave trade, this rice became a major crop in the Americas ... particularly in the Carolinas where it was nicknamed, "Carolina gold."
Solution
- croissants
- dakar
- easier
- producers
- french
- sahel
- today
- mechanized
- tendency
- matter
- thankfully
- african
- despised
- products
Original Text
There are many challenges in turning fonio into food. Traditional processing is laborious and time-consuming, especially when compared to other grains. Well, thankfully, technology has evolved. And there are now machines that can process fonio in a more efficient way. And as a matter of fact, a few years ago, Sanoussi Diakité, a Senegalese engineer, won a Rolex prize for his invention of the first mechanized fonio processor. Today, such machines are making life much easier for producers around the whole Sahel region.
Another challenge is the colonial mentality that what comes from the west is best. This tendency to look down on our own products and to see crops like fonio as simply "country peoples' food," therefore substandard, explains why even though we don't produce wheat in Senegal traditionally, it is far easier to find baguettes or croissants in the streets of Dakar than it is to find any fonio products. This same mindset popularized the overprocessed, leftover rice debris known as "broken rice," which was imported to Senegal from Indochina and introduced by the colonial French. Soon, broken rice became a key ingredient in our national dish, thiéboudienne, replacing our own traditional, more nutritious African rice, Oryza glaberrima. Ironically, the same African rice despised at home was hailed abroad. Indeed, during the Atlantic slave trade, this rice became a major crop in the Americas ... particularly in the Carolinas where it was nicknamed, "Carolina gold."
Frequently Occurring Word Combinations
ngrams of length 2
| collocation |
frequency |
| fonio mill |
3 |
| universal civilization |
2 |
| sahel region |
2 |
| sahara desert |
2 |
| million people |
2 |
| ancient grains |
2 |
| west africa |
2 |
| consistent quality |
2 |
| fonio producers |
2 |
Important Words
- african
- americas
- atlantic
- baguettes
- broken
- carolinas
- challenge
- challenges
- colonial
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- diakité
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- fonio
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- french
- glaberrima
- gold
- grains
- hailed
- home
- imported
- indochina
- ingredient
- introduced
- invention
- ironically
- key
- laborious
- leftover
- life
- machines
- major
- making
- matter
- mechanized
- mentality
- mindset
- national
- nicknamed
- nutritious
- oryza
- overprocessed
- popularized
- prize
- process
- processing
- processor
- produce
- producers
- products
- region
- replacing
- rice
- rolex
- sahel
- sanoussi
- senegal
- senegalese
- simply
- slave
- streets
- substandard
- technology
- tendency
- thankfully
- thiéboudienne
- today
- trade
- traditional
- traditionally
- turning
- west
- wheat
- won
- years