浦哲文和白筠夫婦的故事

浦哲文來自美國賓夕法尼亞州的一個農民世家。（看，他的爺爺在想盡辦法把五噸重的脫粒機弄過兩噸重的大橋。）白筠來自美國新澤西州，她意大利裔的祖父母曾在紐約種植和銷售水果和蔬菜。種植和銷售美食就是這個家族的傳承。

浦哲文和白筠于1986年結婚，隨即搬到四川成都，在無意間來到了世界的美食之都。1989年，他們的女兒Amy在四川成都出生，并為她取了浦蜀美的中文名，她是解放后在四川出生的第一個美國人。1990年，這個三口之家搬到云南昆明，浦哲文在那里完成了云南大學中國少數民族研究的博士學位，而白筠開始與當地政府合作，幫助被遺棄和有特殊需要的兒童。蜀美從小就吃著過橋米線、餌塊和大理話梅在昆明長大，她目前在美國的一所大學教書，也可算得上是最了解波士頓地區中國美食的頂級專家。

意大利人和中國人都是以食為天的民族。當來到隨處都是美味佳肴的中國大西南時，白筠就像回到了家一樣。她總是樂不可支地到處逛市場，讓家人和朋友飽嘗各種新鮮美食——美味、健康、營養的食物。在一次回美國的途中，白筠偶然品嘗到了藜麥，并為藜麥的味道、健康品質及其能夠與不同食材搭配的多樣性所深深吸引。她想，藜麥絕對可以讓中國的美食更加錦上添花！同時，浦哲文了解到中國的藜麥產地在西藏自治區——一個以清新的空氣、清潔的水源以及俊美的山巒而著稱的地方。

這里的藏民珍視一切生命，不會使用任何除草劑或農藥，因此在這種原始環境中生長的西藏藜麥肯定會是世界上最健康的食物。

為此，浦哲文和白筠夫婦決定在西藏拉薩成立一家公司，開發西藏的藜麥市場。他們的目標很簡單：讓藏民的優質藜麥賣個好價錢，并讓這些優質的藜麥進到喜歡健康美食的千家萬戶。

現在，也邀請你成為他們故事的一部分！

Jeff and Carol Book

Jeff comes from a long line of farmers in Pennsylvania, USA. (As you can see Jeff’s grandfather had some problems getting his 5-ton thrashing machine over the 2-ton bridge.) Carol is from New Jersey, USA; her Italian grandparents and dad grew and sold fruits and vegetables in Vermont. Growing and selling good food is part of our family’s history.

Jeff and Carol were married in 1986 and moved immediately to Chengdu, Sichuan, unwittingly landing in the food capital of the world. Their daughter, Amy, was born in Chengdu, Sichuan in 1989. The first American born in Sichuan since Liberation, her Chinese name is 浦蜀美。 The family of three moved to Kunming, Yunnan in 1990 where Jeff completed a PhD in China’s minority studies at Yunnan University, and Carol began working with abandoned and special needs children in cooperation with the local government. Amy grew up in Kunming eating guoqiao mixian, erkuai, and dali huamei. Amy now teaches at a university in the USA, and she is probably the leading expert on finding good Chinese food in the Boston area.

Italians and Chinese share an obsession with food, so Carol was right at home in southwest China with so many good things to eat. Carol was always exploring markets and trying new things to feed her family and friends: Delicious food, healthy food, nutritious food. While on a visit to America, Carol tasted quinoa and was greatly impressed with quinoa’s taste, health qualities, as well as its versatility in foods. Quinoa would be a great addition to Chinese food, she thought!

Jeff discovered that quinoa was grown in the Tibet Autonomous Region, a part of China known for its clean air, clean water and beautiful mountains. Because Tibetan farmers value all living things, they do not use herbicides or pesticides on their plants. Tibetan quinoa grown in such a pristine environment would be some of the healthiest food in the world.

So, Jeff and Carol decided to start a company in Lhasa, Tibet, to develop the market for Tibetan quinoa. Their goal was simple: Give Tibetan farmers a good price for their good quality quinoa and pass on that good quality quinoa to families who want good food and good health. So now you are part of the story!