[ 2013-12-21 ]

love my food, I love my figure - Moon Sangmor
When it comes to issues of weight, most women are
likely to get anxious when told that they have put
on weight.

For these women, the thought of looking big is
simply unpleasant. Not Moon Sangmor, presenter of
cookery show Onga Food Tour on TV3.

She was bold to tell Showbiz the other day: “I
have a healthy appetite. I say that without shame
…I appreciate good food and my taste buds scream
when good food drops on them”.

Talking about the weight challenges that most
women are confronted with, the charming and
full-figured presenter disclosed that there was
nothing absolutely wrong with being full-figured
but added that one had to remain healthy.

“By all means if you’re not in that healthy
weight limit and if your weight is not
proportionate to or with your height then
there’s trouble…you have to do something about
it.

“I don’t see anything wrong with being a plus
size but one has to stay healthy and that’s why
we need to eat the right food at the right time. I
love myself but I do try to be healthy”, she
said.

Although the watch word was to eat the right thing
at the right time, Moon admitted this wasn’t
always easy. “I have this crazy crave for
pastries, and I know it’s bad but I try to stay
healthy. I don’t think women should allow
someone sitting somewhere to decide what size is
beautiful and what’s not.

If it’s a matter of health do something about
it, but you can be plus size and look nice in your
clothes…you can be full-figured and still be
sexy and rock whatever you wear”, she explained.


Moon, the onetime presenter of Sunrise morning
show on TV3 cut a fine figure in the black dress
she wore when I met her for this interview. She
disclosed that she has been learning a lot through
the Onga Food Tour, a programme that takes her
around the country to reveal the many traditional
Ghanaian cuisine that exist. Her travels around
the country also exposes her to the rich
cultures.

As one who had tasted many different Ghanaian
dishes, the Onga Food Tour presenter believes
that, above all things, good food must be healthy.


“Good food must have the right proportions of
protein, veggies and vitamins etcetera, but again
it’s very relative what good food is because our
taste buds are very different.

For some meals you need an acquired taste and for
others you’re born into it. For me, good food is
anything that will make me want to go a second
round”, she disclosed.

Asked what her most memorable experience on the
food tour had been, Moon who has been presenting
the Onga Food Tour for three years, said a tour of
the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana turned out to be
revealing.

“It was in the Brong Ahafo region that I saw the
most amazing traditional meals. I mean stuff I
never knew possible…people preparing soup with
pawpaw which is so not regular. I think I was
blown away in Sunyani by their traditional
meals”, she revealed.

The presenter said that although she was aware
that people were in the habit of giving television
personalities special treatment, she had been
touched by the hospitality she and her crew
received when they travelled to Sekyere Odumasi.

“I’ve never seen people so warm. They just
didn’t want my crew and I to leave…they’re
looking for you in the morning to serve you
breakfast…they gather around at lunch time and
they’re waiting for you to tell them what you
want to eat so they go and prepare it…that was
very nice”, she said.

On the issue of promoting our traditional Ghanaian
cuisine, Moon observed that little had been done
to promote the indigenous Ghanaian cuisine.

“It saddens me when I go to the US I’d love to
order Chinese…you’re in Dubai you don’t mind
ordering Chinese and yet you have qualms when you
want to taste your own Ghanaian food there.

It’s sad…we have done absolutely nothing to
brand our traditional cuisine. But there’s one
thing we often overlook, which is the health
part…there’s so much calories in the fufu and
all our meals are carbohydrate based…banku,
kenkey and all of that.

Today, everyone is concerned about health and
these meals may not be attractive. So until we
find a way of creating meals that are healthy,
it’s not going to be attractive to
foreigners”, she said.

On a more personal level, Moon likes to think that
she’s tough although she’s well aware the
challenges of life always have a way of getting
the best part of one.

“I like to think that I’m tough but yes I’ve
got my soft spots and there’s always a breaking
point for everybody. However, I find solace in the
word of God.

All I have to do when hard times come is to refer
to the word of God and this has worked for me over
the years.

When I asked what could get her disgusted, the
Moon said “if you were a woman and in public you
took out your make-up kit and you started
powdering your nose that would disgust me. I’m
not going to approach you, but you would know from
my face that I’m disgusted”.

When I sought to find out what a guy could do to
make her disgusted, the well-spoken presenter let
out a laugh and responded “maybe when you’re a
man and you start scratching your crotch in
public, I’d be disgusted…I’m very
accommodating but that would be too much…I hate
to be disrespected…Moon respects everyone and I
demand that you reciprocate”.

Concluding the interview, I asked how she came by
her name, which sounds exotic.

After laughing it off, Moon explained that it is
thought that her parents conceived her during
their honey moon and so she was named ‘Honeymoon
baby’. Somehow, Moon stuck with family and
friends as she grew up.

Moon added that when her younger sister was born,
she suggested the name ‘Star’, and so her
younger sister who’s at the University of Ghana
is called Star.

Source - Daily Graphic

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