Quinoa

Remember how in The Edible Woman Marian isn’t able to eat anything because all the food is alive and squirming around and it makes her sick? Well, that’s how I would feel if I would ever put myself in the position in which quinoa was a viable option for me (of course I would never punish myself like that. We must learn to love and nurture ourselves). I’m just waiting for someone to make a haggis-style quinoa dish that, when you slice into the stomach, quinoa bursts forth like the clumps of tiny flesh-eating maggots squirming around that I know it to be.

Here is some quinoa. The picture on the left was taken with a regular camera; the picture on the right was taken with a
super-duper microscope.

Look at this quinoa. What do you see?

A simple pseudo-cereal

Or writhing maggots on a binging spree?

The Bolivians ate it first? That's immaterial.

Maybe they produce it, but it's ours to take--

It's a process called "the Culinary Imperial"

Now they can't afford it? Then let them eat cake!