Sara: “Today, the table is a source of chronic stress”

At 35, Sara manipulates numbers with the ease afforded to her by her career in finance. However, today, its most complex calculations are no longer done in the office, but between the shelves of supermarkets. A vegetarian since birth, eating has become for her a mental gymnastics where health is too often the variable sacrificed.

Under the pressure of inflation fueled by the distant clashes of world conflicts, Sara's plate has become empty of quality. His dinner is now reduced to the austerity of a “bred mouroum” broth accompanied by a slice of breadfruit or leftovers gleaned from his refrigerator. “It is no longer an act of taste or desire, it is a functional necessity to eat quickly, eat to last and, above all, eat cheaply after a grueling day at work,” she confides.

For Sara, eating organic was not a fashion, but a shield against pesticides and a commitment to her health. Today, his convictions are shattered against the price wall. In one year, his food budget swallowed up a third of his salary. Organic, once essential, has slipped into the category of luxuries.

The nutritional balance, the pillar of her vegetarian life, is crumbling. Fresh vegetables and plant-based proteins have given way to the dominance of starchy foods. Rice, bread and cereals saturate his plate. “It’s not a choice of palace, it’s a budgetary decision,” she says. At the checkout, the ritual is to track down promotions, compare prices per kilo and often give up on specialty cheeses or imported biscuits so as not to cross the critical threshold of the budget decided for the shopping.

What I miss, beyond the flavor, is this feeling of gratification”

Sara knows that this forced diet has a hidden price. By filling her stomach with carbohydrates to quell hunger, she feels her body getting poorer. Simple pleasures, such as a ripe avocado, red fruits or a quality white cheese, have become ghosts that she no longer dares to look at on the shelves these days. “What I miss, beyond the flavor, is this feeling of gratification. Today, the table is a source of chronic stress, not pleasure. »

Her citizen look is alarmed. In a Mauritius island already ravaged by diabetes, she sees with horror the population rushing towards starchy foods out of pure economic constraint. “Seeing parents deprive themselves for their children is a reality that tears my heart,” she adds, aware that her struggle as a single person is only a pale reflection of the distress of families.

On weekends, Sara tries to reclaim her kitchen, to infuse it with a little of that creativity that she misses so much. But the shadow of the bank overdraft hangs over every spice, every “extra” ingredient. To last over time, she is now considering purchasing in bulk certain quality products and brands that cost less.

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