Just popping to the corner shop for some grain?

Preparing the corn and grain in The Gambia was really hard work - but this gathering of women, sort of singing and extensively chatting was a ritual gathering by the shore in Bintang Bilong.

I joined in and it was easy to see how it was exhausting, intense and highly necessary - it wasn't long after that the vultures gathered to hoover up the remnants.

But it's this sort of activity that is so taken for granted - in an age when I can just go and buy virtually any food, pre-prepared and eat immediately or microwave it to completion, I can't help but sense that this manual preparation is far more sustainable and healthier...