introduction

Hello!

My name in Newton. I'm an only child from Manhattan, NYC. I'm a first year drama student.
I lived in Manhattan until age 16, when I left to go to a boarding school in Scotland for two years. Having come from the melting pot that is NYC, I was sort of shocked by the ethnic homogeneity of the highlands of Scotland. I did, however, enjoy being exposed to a completely new culture.

Most members of my family came over from eastern Europe in the early 1800s. They came to NY and set up medical practices, either working as GPs or dentists.
I love NY, and miss it pretty much all of the time. Luckily, there's a $30 bus that goes from Winston to NY overnight...if I ever get too homesick, I can always hop on it.
Here's a picture of me in the Romanian countryside-

I think that one of the main problems in America right now is the food that we eat. So few people have the knowledge or the financial means to make healthy choices. As a result, many wind up buying packaged foods that are loaded with all sorts harmful, artificial ingredients. Monosodium glutamate, for instance, is a neurotoxin- but that doesn't stop food manufacturers from putting it into many commonly consumed foods- chips, especially, are loaded with MSG. This is particularly harmful for young people, since we probably snack on chips more than any other demographic.
Many of us are so used to consuming pre-packaged foods that we have lost touch with what it means to actually cook a meal from scratch. This is why I think that it is so important for people to have the experience of growing food, harvesting it, and eating it- even if it's just a little parsley plant on the windowsill. It really puts us back in touch with the natural order of things.
A few summers ago, my mother rented a house in upstate NY, which gave me the opportunity to plant a garden. I planted everything from lettuce, kale, and celery to tomatoes and eggplants. By the end of the summer, I could cook an entire meal with ingredients that I had grown myself- it was a really great feeling. I really want to have this experience again and, since I'm living in Winston over the summer, I hope that I can find a CSA or farm that I can work with.