Ghana Tastes: Day 27: Pigtown

Accra:
Today we were back on the trail of food related institutional research. It was 82 with a heat index of 100. We couldn't find the Poultry Association, got kicked out of the Peasant Farmers Association, but we did come accross lovely Mrs. Evelyn Boye and her 43 year old cooking school, The College of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. All these institutions were located in an area called Pigtown. After getting lost in a maze of narrow dirt and rubble filled tracks that wound their way past peoples lodgings, complete with drying laundry, cooking fires, and cow and chicken pens, we found the main road again. There we took a break and went to Pizza Town and inhaled two pizzas made to order. There was even a bathroom with TP, soap, and water! Sadly, no air conditioning.
We went to the Produce Buyers Association, but learned that they only buy cocoa for export. We also visited the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. These are two US funded institutions that assist the Ghanaian Government in conducting research on mechanization, commercialization, and smallholder access to more efficient input and output markets.
We finished up with a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the suggestion of Mrs. Boye to do some research on what is served at Ghanaian State functions. I am hoping we will get lucky and get some information on what was served to Queen Elizabeth II on her state visit in 1962.
Tim has been great with navigating, negotiating taxi fares, encouraging, and providing the muscle when needed. He pounds the streets with me each day, sometimes dragging me kicking and screaming. He is the best!