Week 5- Chocolates and Ferrias

Week 5 of the food blog features a 'Feria agricultura' or a farmers market and some questions asked to some costaricenses about chocolate and chocolate habits.

"Feria"

 On Sunday we visited the Feria in Zapote which is a larger equivalent to a farmer's market in the United States. It is a huge market place where vendors sell fresher produce than what you see the supermarkets, but for much cheaper. The market was pretty large, with the majority of vendors selling different types of fruits and vegetables. On the outsides of the market, forming an outer perimeter, were cooked food, meats and seafood, and arts and crafts vendors. I think that this is because the most important vendors in the market are the fruit and vegetable vendors who occupy the center and the bulk of the space. At the market it was interesting to note that the majority of people who were shopping were of older stock, mid to late 30s and up. I think this is interesting because this is a prominent age for having a family and it is represented in the wants of the parents. They want to the freshest fruits so they go to the Ferias for their vegetables and fruits.

I had never been to a farmer's market in the US, but referencing the one I saw close to Elon the Feria was much larger and a bit more impressive. It was extremely organized and easy to navigate with a clear entrance to the market. The prices throughout were pretty standard although the individual stalls were at liberty to change the prices as they saw fit. The most interesting difference I learned however, and I learned this after talking to my Tico dad Carlos, was that the majority of the fruit vendors in the Feria are not the actual farmers. Instead they are people who have money who  buy the produce from farmers and sell it in the market. Whether this is 100% true or not there were several people who were selling vegetables who did not look like farmers in the market so to me this theory holds validity. I think this is interesting because the abundance of middle men means that there are many farmers growing fresh produce, specialized to the population. This is different from in the United States because the majority of farmers are all part of huge corporations so they get the food. There are fewer small farmers so the farmer's market scene is not as large as here in Costa Rica.

I spoke to my Tica mom as well about purchasing fruits and vegetables as well and she said that she likes to go to the feria in Zapote as well, although she said she also buys fruits and vegetables at the supermarket such as Mas por Menos. My Tica mom likes to go to the market because it has fresher options for cheaper which is a plus, but she goes to the supermarket because it is close, quick and easy to get the produce there. She says that she tries to go every Sunday to the market to buy fresh produce, otherwise she goes to the grocery.


Chocolate:

This week we are learning all about Chocolate and its importance in Costa Rica and in Latin America. To prepare  for this unit we had to talk to Ticos about their chocolate culture and tastes.  For this as for many things I talked to my Tica mom and sister. Both of them said they like chocolate, a lot! They even said that they liked chocolate since they were born. My mom says she likes to eat chocolate on special occasions such as Anniversaries or birthdays, and even when she goes to the grocery she said that she would buy some chocolate and eat it as her special treat to herself. My likes to eat chocolate because she says it makes her feel happy and because she thinks it is delicious. She buys her chocolate at grocery stores and at places called "Chinos". These are small stores, bigger that snack shops but much smaller than grocery stores that are generally run by people from China. They both enjoy Costa Rican chocolate but my mother prefers darker, stronger chocolates whereas my sister herself enjoys milk chocolate.

And that is all for this week. Next week is about coffee so stay tuned for the beverage that I am now addicted to.

Pura Vida!