Fresh
When the fisherman gets back to town after a morning on the sea, he blows the conch shell. Anyone interested in some fish for dinner comes down to the water to purchase the night’s meal, buying whatever it is he’s managed to catch that day. The fruits and vegetables come from the market - picked fresh from the trees you see all around you. At the side of the road, a man sells smoothies from a ramshackle shack - the fruit he includes are the fruit he happened to be able to get on that particular day.
It had to be the best smoothie I’ve ever had.
Eating locally may be just gaining stride here. In Grenada, though, you can walk through the fields and see varieties of mangoes and bananas you’ve never even heard of, as well as papayas, coconuts, cocoa and coffee … not to mention the fish from those fishermen and the local vegetables and fruits you’ve never seen. There, eating locally just is. Simply the way things are.
Photo: Grenada fruit trees - April 2008 - LV.
Posted by Lisa.
You have got to know that I just love the idea of the conch shell beckoning all-comers down for fresh fish. And the idea of being able to walk amongst the food we eat is a pretty powerful one — makes me especially appreciate of our home and community gardeners.
Now I’m craving a mango smoothie…
It was pretty inspiring, I have to say. To the extent that I’ve now started my own little balcony vegetable garden, so that I can eat as local as possible at home as well - no mangoes, of course, but tomatoes and spinach and beans (oh my!). Now I just have to wait and see if my decidedly non-green thumb is up to the task…