Health Food Stores in the Caribbean

[norsewind]

I am interested in knowing what other vegetarian/organic/vegan cruisers have encountered in the Caribbean in terms of health food stores.

I realize that I won't be finding any Whole Foods supermarkets in the islands but there have to be some stores that specialize in this type of food. I have sailed in the Bahamas and when I go to the local grocery store all I ever seem to find is crappy American-imported, low-quality, non-organic produce, eggs, milk, etc.

Any experiences?

Sven
s/v Norsewind
Tartan 37

[jacob30]

At least they are not importing that crappy Scandinavian gentically mutated farm raised salmon fed with cat food You ever taste that stuff?? Yuck!

Seriously the Carribean health food stores are well known.....absurd!

Want organic try the local produce market in the Carribean.

[norsewind]

Good point. I always steer clear of farm-raised salmon. Glad you're aware of the problems of that.

The problem with the local produce markets can be that the locals are not entirely educated as to what constitutes "organic" or "natural" produce. It is quite common for local farmers to spray their crops heavily with pesticides not realizing how unhealthy these are. This is especially true now that cheap (and dangerous) Chinese-made pesticides are readily available throught the developing nations.

I'll tell you a quick anecdote. While spending time near Santa Marta, Colombia a few years ago I was able to visit a citrus farm. The clerk at the little farm store raved to me how their produce was natural and healthy and that their tangerines were the best tasting ones in the world. However, when I spoke to two of the farmhands, they told me that the trees were regularly sprayed with a "water" that repelled pests.

Of course I'm sure that not all local farmers use pesticides. The trouble is finding a source of organic produce that you can trust. And that was the purpose of my original post. Any specific info would be appreciated!

Sven

[zeehag]

if they dont use spray they dont have crops. sorry.no crops-- they are in trouble. i buy what the natives buy. is good. is nutritious. is affordable.

[jazzsail]

Hello Norsewind!

Maybe you already know about happycow.net ??? It is a fantastic resource for Vegan/Veg and veg-friendly restaurants and stores.
Following is the link for the Caribbean - 97 listings!
Vegetarian Restaurants Caribbean - Health Food Stores by HappyCow

I would guess that many of the restaurants would be helpful in locating the best sources for provisioning on their home island! Just as Cruisers are a friendly and helpful bunch - so are Veggies!

Dominica is very good about better (including Organic) growing practices and environmental protections in general. Grenada actually has an excellent Vegan lodge which we have stayed at - www.thelodgegrenada.com . I would say you will have better luck with the mountainous lush islands - and will have skimpy offerings at the flatter ones! When we bare boated in the BVI years ago, we brought a cooler with dry ice loaded with supplies. The only leafy greens we found there was a very sad excuse for iceburg lettuce that looked like it was months old!

We plan to purchase a solar powered cooler, that obviously stays on deck, to load up with grains, beans, nuts and seeds- and plan on doing some sprouting for fresh stuff till we hit the greener isles.

Happy and Healthy Sailing to you!
September

[norsewind]

Jazzsail,

Thanks for the excellent website happycow.net. What a great resource. I have lived in the US for over 20 years now and I know that when we take off next year on our Big Cruise what I'll miss most is the accessability of so many great organic products that we have here in the states. I'm a big sprouter too. You may know about www.wheatgrasskits.com. That's where I buy all my seed. I also grow wheatgrass but probably won't once we are underway due to the soil requirements.

Anyway, thanks so much!

Sven

PS Just in case you're interested, here is another great forum site--kind of off-topic--but you may be interested: www.curezone.com

[jazzsail]

Sven,

Thanks for the links... I will check them out!

I know of many top quality internet resources (15 years worth)... you can PM me if you would like to share more resources/info.

When do you plan on heading into the Caribbean? Maybe we will see you out there?

September

[norsewind]

Jazzsail,

Thanks! We should be in touch. Our goal is to leave Florida (and land life in general) next fall on Norsewind. We are still outfitting her..have many more projects to go (arch, electronics, etc) before we're ready. In addition need to decide what to do with the house..sell? rent? You know, the typical issues...

Take care,

Sven

[jazzsail]

Sven,

Sounds like we are on similar gameplan/timetables. We were hoping to leave by the end of this year, but have some loose ends ourselves to tie up still. I guess we will see what time of year it is (by our two most important seasons - hurricane season or not) when we are ready to go and make the final plans at that time.

Please do keep in touch...
September

[sww914]

I don't have anything helpful to say, but lots of people around the world are more concerned with the short term affects of having no food than they are about the potential long term affects of eating pesticides. I've only seen a lot of organic stuff in the US & Europe where they can afford it.

[John A]

Many cities and large towns have a veggie street market on the weekends. Sanitation is sometimes at a little lower level than is found in the US.

[MarkJ]

Part of traveling is eating what the locals eat.
Carying a mini ecosystem so you don't have to partake seems to be limiting your growth.




Mark

[Springbok]

You can buy Ganja everywhere
Clyde

[cliffdykes]

Originally Posted by Springbok

You can buy Ganja everywhere
Clyde

Yeah, but is it organic?

Cheers
Cliff

[Tom and Maje]

We have a pretty good health food and organic selection in St Thomas. There is one dedicated store near Havensite and we have The Fruit Bowl and Marina both of which carry organics or carry non-organics from countries that do not use chemicals on food.

Maje