Fresh Produce

I have to say, I have eaten very well in Africa. While I’ve still eaten my fair share of beans, greens, rice, and chapattis, (as well as a good amount of stewed beef and goat), there’s been a pretty good share of pasta, peanut butter, chips (a.k.a. French fries), homemade pizza, and other, really yummy, really American food on my plate. I am NOT going hungry. (And I’m losing weight to boot! Go figure!)

The best part of food in Africa, though, is the amazing availability of fresh produce. There is a huge market in the middle of town where you can get just about anything you want. And I do mean ANYTHING. From beans to fish to posho (finely-ground corn flour…. it makes the creamiest grits you’ve ever eaten!) to fresh eggs (which don’t have to be refrigerated) to carrots to cucumbers to loose leaf tea to pineapple to chicken and goat that are still walking! There’s one downside, though. A white person walking through the market turns on dollar (or maybe shilling) signs in the vendors’ eyes. They think, “Oh, here’s a rich mundu who will pay me twice as much as a Lugbara would.” So we figured out pretty quickly that we’re usually better off sending a local to do most of our market shopping for us.

Panina is our produce lady. It’s really what she does for a living. She gets the list of what vegetables we need. Some things she grows herself, some things she barters for, or she might buy them outright from the market. She charges us a little more than she pays, but still much less than we would pay ourselves. Everyone wins. Panina came yesterday with my first order. (When you ask for certain items, she doesn’t ask what quantity you need for each thing- she just gets as much as she can at a reasonable price.) The vegetables she brought me were absolutely gorgeous, and would have cost at least $30 or $35 in a US supermarket. My shopping list included:
2 heads of Romaine lettuce
3 bags of carrots
1 bag of Roma tomatoes
3 enormous zucchini (at least 10 inches long, 3 inches in diameter!)
1 beautiful, fresh pineapple
4 heads of garlic
3 cucumbers
1 large bag of Irish potatoes

The grand total for my produce? A whopping $8.25. This happy girl is eating veggies!

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again. I LOVE the African economy!!!