Fresh Produce and Chocolate

Since we have been in Costa Rica, and even before we got here, people have been telling us how fresh the food here is.  Talking to my host parents this week about our topic verified that for me.  They told me that they like to buy the freshest fruits and vegetables that can get.  When I asked them where they bought their fruits and vegetables, they told me that they bought them at their local super market on a regular bases, and that they visit the farmer’s market as often as they can.  Their reasoning for buying from their local market, and the farmer’s market when possible was as expected…they like to get their food as fresh as possible.  Lucky for them, fresh foods are easily accessible in Costa Rica.  They did say that they like to go to the farmer’s market as much as possible, but that they vegetables and fruits that they get at their local super market are still very fresh.   My parents also said that they buy their fruits and vegetables every weekend, and sometimes once during the week.  My mom said that is one of the most important things about their food…it must be as fresh as possible.  That is one reason why she does not enjoy fast food very much because she knows that their food is not as fresh as it should be. 

I think that it is awesome how Ticans hold their expectations for the freshness of their food so high.  However, it makes sense because there are so many outlets for fresh foods in Costa Rica.  Most every neighborhood has a local supermarket that provides fresh foods to its surrounding areas.  That is one thing that I wish was more prominent in the US, so that we could access fresh foods more easily.  It would be great if the US grew more produce locally that we could access. 

As far as the role chocolate plays in Costa Rica, my parents both agreed that it was used in more ways than just for dessert and special occasions.  My dad said that chocolate was used in a lot of desserts, but that it was also used in many snacks.  They agreed that most of their favorite snacks use chocolate in some way.  They also said that it was not uncommon to have a chocolate pastry for breakfast on occasion.  It was interesting that they said this because this weekend there were some chocolate pastries and small pieces of chocolate cake on our breakfast buffet.  My mom also pointed out how chocolate was really important in some drinks in Costa Rica such as coffee.  After talking to them it was clear that they view coffee as an everyday product.  This makes a lot of sense because they also have a lot of access to cocoa in Costa Rica, which is another thing that I wish were available in the US. 

After this week’s discussion with my family it was clear to me that they have the luxury of fresh food in many different ways.  Because of the large amount of local farming they always have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  They also have easier access to chocolate on a regular basis because of the cocoa plantations in the country.  All of these things show just how many different types of foods are available here in Costa Rica.  This just begins to show how important Costa Rica is to the world’s food supply like we have been reading about in many of our articles.

For this week’s photo assignment I was not able to attend the farmer’s market.  However, on my way home from Manuel Antonio with my family on Sunday we stopped at a few roadside fruit and vegetable stands.  The picture I have included was from the biggest one, and the one where we bought a bundle of bananas and a pineapple.  It was very interesting to see how the people acted at the different stops.  There were a few differences in the types of foods that hey had, but there were also some things that each of them had in common.  One of the main things that I noticed was that they were very particular about us touching their produce.  I remember that we discussed this briefly in a previous class, but I have never seen it personally until this weekend.  When we decided that we wanted a pineapple and my mom tried to reach for one the man politely stopped her and dug to the bottom of the pile to pick the ‘best’ one.  It was a very interesting experience to see multiple produce stands in one day.  The people were so friendly and proud of their produce.