Why there aren't more fruits and Veggies???
Submitted by GranadaSherif on Thu, 2005/07/21 - 12:47.
I have been thinking about this since MiskitoAlan said he had a farm with Okras! So do we really have to have a farm to get a decent variety of Fruits and Green Veggies? Nicaragua has a lot of land that is fertile and can be easily cultivated. Egypt, as an example, has probably 50% of the cultivable land that Nicaragua has, and about 14x the population. Yet there is tons of different fruits and greens. So is it: 1. The number of Cattle ranches using lands that would otherwise grow fruits and veggies 2. Lack of resources (Human and Financial) to cultivate on large scale 3. Lack of a market (domestic and export) for such fruits and Veggies 4. Meat eating Culture? which contributes to 3 above 5. Too much exports and nothing is left in the country????
Any thoughts/opinions?
Another option (explanation)?
I, personally, dont think some of the possibilities you listed go a long ways in explaining what you see regarding produce, and the lack of variety therein. Number 3 is a viable partial explanation though, at least when you get to the more obscure items (it is diffult to move and clean and display certain items before they start to go bad). But, one other thing to consider is that Nicaragua, like other Latin countries, is not necessarily famous for diverse cuisine, and a huge segment of societies more or less live off the staple items. It is hard enough to make money, but perhaps unnecessairly difficult to make it growing a higher risk agri product which has limited local sales and less than gauranteed export $$$. It is true that certain items do not grow well there (Zamorro Institute in Honduras routinely tests viability for plants and foods in Central America) in Central America. But, a portion of any explanation might be that a people (and I say this as one of these "people") who debate on a hundred levels the merits of "gallo pinto", might not need all that much variety on the plate = ?
So true
I live four blocks from the public market in Estelí. Stuff comes in on the roof of buses and in old pickup trucks every morning. Lots of staples (beans, rice, carrots, tomato, onions, garlic, beets, yuca, potato, bananas) and a reasonable amount of a few varieties of fruit that are in season.
I have learned when and where to find celery, broccoli, and other "exotic" things. But, there isn't much in the market because there isn't that much demand. At first I was surprised but I then realized that paying C$10/lb. for broccoli when corn is 1/4 that price really is a luxury.
If you were looking for an agricultural business model that works, I would think the exportation of dried fruit and organically-grown herbs would work great. But, the poor person across the street is not going to be the customer.
Japan wants fresh fruit from Nicaragua
< Computer translation>
Tatsuya Kato, director general of Jetro Panama, said that Japan is very interested in establishing business with the small businessmen of Nicaragua, “above all because they produce quality, which is what the Japanese consumers seek”, he assured.
Kato explained that exists a special interest for fresh fruits, “the ones that very are desired for the Japanese, where very few fruits are produced”.
http://www.laprensa.com.ni/economia/economia-20050722-04.html
I guess the Cuisine/Culture maybe the real reason
The best explanation so far is given by Carina and Fyl.. The prices of Greens are high and are hard to find (as Fyl states) because of the cuisine and cultural "norm" in eating (as Carina states)...if more people ate broccoli, the prices would be cheaper, or at least the production would be higher and prices would then normalise.
Now if the population of certain "cultures" and tastes for "Cuisines" increase suffienctly in a given area, it would follow that the demand created by such concentration would result in "Special" produce being more readily available in those areas.... This has not happened in Granada, nor in SJDS....
Maybe the population is not High enough or maybe producers have not caught on to this yet.
Dried Mangoes, one of my favorite snacks and also a favorite among Oriental populations , are relatively expensive in N.A. about $2 Canadian per 100g, I suspect that they are about 0.50-1 dollar Wholesale per 100g... Having seen the number of Mangoes here, and how much lay rotten in fields and the sides ofthe roads, I am surpeised this product has not explored or exploited.
I did not see such "waste", if it can be called that, in Costa Rica for example.
So owning your wown farm is not such a bad Idea after all... Way to go MiskitoAlan...
There are plenty
I don't know where you've been, but there are plenty of fruits and vegetables grown in Nicaragua. I would venture to say that there is a greater variety of fruits here than in the US or Europe. Some of the vegetables or fruits you don't see is because they don't grow well here and are imported.
These are some of the fruits that are grown in Nicaragua: Oranges Tangerines Watermelons Coconuts Guayabas Cashews Cantaloupes Bananas Platanos Pineapples Papayas Pitahayas Nisperos Mamons Nancites Mangos Granadilla Maracuya Zapotes Tamarindo Lemons Naranja Agria Sweet lemons Guanabana Grapes Strawberies Blackberries Jocotes Avocados Caimitos Grocellas
I'm sure I left out a few.
Variety....
For a tropical country, there isn't the variety that one would expect. Go to Costa Rica,Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, and compare it the markets here, where I live, and you will see/feel the lack of variety.
As for berries in general, I have not seen any sold here that actually grown here. Same for grapes... I have seen grapes,but they usually do not make their way to the market. And very few Nicaraguan Apples.
As for Vegetables, your standards are plentiful, but as for variety and Greens,that's a different story.
Fruits and vegetables
Grapes, berries, apples, strawberries, do not grow well (if at all) in Nicaragua. But Im surprised you say there is no variety of fruits / vegetables. If certain vegetables are not known to the locals, obviously you would not find them easily in the markets. For example, up until very recently, it was not easy to find avocados in some supermarkets in Toronto...try selling yuca / cassava to a typical Canadian...no way...
grapes
Discussed a while back on another thread, there are indeed grapes grown commercially in Nicaragua.
One woman I know in Camoapa has a fairly large finca and runs a decent business selling the grapes in Mercado Mayoreo.
I have been driving past about a manzana of grapes grown just outside of Boaco and never knew it. They are getting pretty big now and I need to scout out the owner and make an offer.
Also, in Puerto Cabezas, at Kabu Payasku, my favorite restaurant, they have a grape arbor. It's on the way to the restrooms at the back of the property.
Living in Granada.
I guess it is living in Granada... I feel deprived.
Fruits & Nuts (And Veggies)
I thought they all lived in California and thats why they call it the Granola State.