As a child growing up in India, I greeted the appearance of one particular vegetable on my plate with exaggerated distaste: tender seedpods from the moringa tree, locally known as “drumsticks.” Imagine my surprise when I heard a health worker from sub-Saharan Africa describe this backyard tree as a possible solution to malnutrition in tropical countries – he called it a “miracle tree,” no less.
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P.S. In Chennai, my photographer, a middle-aged man, set out to find me a suitable image for the piece. As he roamed the streets on this mission, a helpful auto-driver asked him what he was looking for. His reply, “a pod-laden moringa tree,” prompted a smirk. Passersby smiled knowingly. Could have had something to do with the local belief that the moringa pod is an aphrodisiac.