Millennium Victory to host cultural & health symposium

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU:There will be inter-mixing of food and culture in Montego Bay, St James, on Sunday, December 22, when the Millennium Victory Vegetarian Restaurant, located on Barnett Street, presents a cultural and health symposium dubbed 'Holistic Reproductive Health'.

The event, which is slated to start at 3 p.m., will be highlighted by a presentation by holistic nutritional counsellor Dr Khensu I-Em-Hotep, the founder of the Melanin Clinic, which operates under the principle, "food is medicine and medicine is food".

"Food is perhaps the most important component of our daily survival, so it is important for us to understand food," said Fitzroy Lawrence, or Chef Kush, the proprietor of the popular eatery. "We consider food and culture as a healthy mix."

Hotep is expected to address matters such as how to revert the body to a state where it is able to free itself from conditions, including cancers, heart, pancreatic, liver and kidney problems; anemia, inflammation, poor circulation, chronic constipation, fibroid tumors, and many other modern lifestyle illnesses.

Along with Hotep's presentation, the lovers of cultural music and roots poetry should be in for a special treat as several established exponents of both art forms, headed by the multi-award-winning drumming sensation Prince Tebah and the Sons of Thunder are slated to perform.

The line-up features poets Sister Nanny; the veteran Ras Views; Ras Kremlin; Ika Tafara; Ras Igie; singers Major Lloyd and Janni, and dancer Rasta Skankin. There will also be sound system music to complement the performers.

While all the acts are expected to hold their own, Prince Tebah and the Sons of Thunder - an established act on the north coast hotel circuit, which has significantly enhanced its profile by appearing in several feature movies including the 1993 film Wide Sargasso Sea - is also expected to be a major highlight. The band, an ensemble of percussionists from the Rastafari tradition, has also participated in a recent World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood, California.

Since opening its doors to the public just shy of two years ago, the Millennium Victory Vegetarian Restaurant has become a favourite eatery for lovers of natural foods and natural herbs and spices, which are an integral part of the food-preparation skills Kush has developed over the past 25 years.

"Natural herbs and spices, once fused together properly, allow each meal to be special," said Kush. "We are hoping that members of the general public will turn out for this cultural and health symposium as it will give us a chance to introduce more people to what is on offer here at Millennium Victory."