Local

We are slowly settling back into our routine here at home.  It is rainy and gray outside, which makes me long for the sunny weather of Jamaica.  I was fortunate enough to spend a few days of our vacation exploring the local food scene, in part for an upcoming article, and in part for my own enjoyment.  I'm not sure that the Jamaicans we met would call themselves "locovores" as that is simply the way they eat- fresh fish straight off the boat, fruits and veggies picked that day, goats and chickens slaughtered when the time comes to cook.  Food so fresh, and so local, it boggles this New Englander's mind!

Indeed, one of the highlights of our trip was the food.  We ate like kings- fresh lobster, jerk snapper, and grunt, and curried goat and chicken, not to mention platters of farm fresh fresh fruit (jackfruit, soursop, breadfruit, pineapple, watermelon, cantalope) and veggies.  Fresh supplies were sourced almost daily from the fishing village and market.

The bounty was so beautiful- the colors, the crowded stalls, the sweet and savory smells mingling with the dirt and grime of the city.  Truly a feast for the senses.

Upon returning home and being forced to grocery shop at a store (gasp!), I felt more than a bit underwhelmed.  It seems odd that while we rely on produce shipped from thousands of miles away (there were green peppers from Israel at the store- seriously, there are no green peppers grown even a bit closer to home?!), those in the tropics can rely on local bounty year round.  It begs the question- who decided New England was inhabitable in the first place?  They must have been a hardier stock than I.