eating overseas

[rawispeace]

I am due for a trip to the bahamas pretty soon and i was going to make enough salad for my time there and put it in ziplock bags and bring a container of premade dressing...does anyone know what kind of fruits they have available over there? I was going to bring an apple orange grapefruit and container of strawberries for each day im there or something like that but if they have all that over there then I wont have to. And do they have the same pesticide regulations as we do...if not it might be better if i brought my own food all the way around

[ephmeralgrl]

will they even allow you to bring produce in? I would think there would be lots of yummy interesting foods to eat. I would think about nuts and crackers.
Have a great time!!

[solchile76]

hi,
i was in the bahamas not long ago. you will not be able to bring any produce into the country. you won't need to. there are plenty of fruits and veggies there. i would try locating a market.

[exurb]

go to the fridge right now, grab a coconut, and hit yourself on the head with it.

[exurb]

ok, in all seriousness, don't do what you're thinking.

First of all the countries you have to worry about for pesticide regulations are Mexico, India and China, where DDT is still legal. You have to worry most about the U.S.A. (as well as South Africa) for milk regulations, as American milk uses a hormone illegal in virtually every other civilized country. So don't assume America has the best pesticide regulations, in fact, America is drawing much criticism from other countries for weakening its organic standards, which were already weaker than in many places, said by many to pave the way for corporations to take over something that started as a grass roots movement with more than profit as the main concern. Europe has a complete ban on antibiotics in feed for farm animals, North America shows no intention to go in that direction.

If you bring anything, let it be a specialty item, like crackers or your fave oil if you use oil, or if you love a certain nut or seed if you can bring that in. Not produce.

"Go big or go home" has been the evolution of farming in North America, even many of the organic farms are very corporatized and grow monocultures, it is wonderful while travelling to eat stuff from smaller growers, who don't grow a "polyculture" and grow a bit of this and bit of that. I like to get my money closer to the grower, to buy something truly ripe and fresh from a person who grew it in a market is like a little piece of heaven.

Have you ever seen the film Shirley Valentine, you reminded me of the Britiish tourists in Greece, still wanting their "chip and egg" while there was all this gorgeous Greek food around waiting to be experienced.

I have travelled raw without bringing anything, and it's led to some AWESOME finds. My husband still talks about about the peaches we ate in a market in Dubrovnik, the first peach that actually ripened on the tree we have ever tasted, the fresh pressed olive oil from portugal made by an old man once a week, the fresh figs, the prickly pear cactus we picked ourselves in the Cinque Terre (BTW, not adviseable, ouch!), olives in the South of France, etc, etc... Oh, gee, I'd rather be eating 5 day old domestic lettuce in a bag? NOT!

I would hate for you to miss out on one of the wonderful aspects of travelling... food!

Personally I wouldn't bring anything, unless you want to have something to eat for the airport and airplane.

[rawispeace]

Thankyou for your help...I will be coming in by personal boat.

I will try to find a market to see what is available. The only concern I will have now then is if I cant find cashews and flax oil which I will need to make my dressings... If i bring that over in my purse will they search me and make a big deal of it?

[exurb]

I will be coming in by personal boat

well in that case
#1) take me with you
#2) also sail that boat over to the island of Dominica (NOT dominican republic, Dominica, the "nature island of the Caribbean").
http://www.dominica.dm/aboutus.htm

What you might want to do it go to the Bahamian tourist or goverment websites. That would give you a better idea of what the regulations are and also what is available food wise. In parts of the caribbean, a lot of stuff is imported, but there are still many growers in places too. At first for some reason I thought you were talking about Barbados.

In general, you can bring stuff like flax oil without problems, even pre-made cookies, crackers, bars, etc. It's mostly fresh produce, animal products, dairy, plant parts, etc. Countries are especially picky about not wanting any agricultural diseases or pests imported, so they're usually the most picky about not bringing in anything they grow there. I would also think that they're used to boats coming in with leftover provisions on board.


PS glad we're still speaking after the coconut thing. :cool:

[rawispeace]

haha I sometimes think I may need a good whack on the head with a coconut.

[RowanC]

I lived in the Caribbean for 6-7 years when I was a young woman. One of my sons was born in St. Croix, and his father is from the Bahamas. You will find stands by the side of the road where you can buy all sorts of lovely raw fruits. Try some new ones like genips! I'm not sure of the spelling, but they look like little tiny green oranges. You bite them and the skin pops and inside is a lovely orange fruit similar to a mango. Mostly seed, you just sort of roll it around your mouth and suck and chew until the seed is left.

Lots of beautiful young coconuts. The guys will open them and pop in a straw right there. Bananas by the ton. Many many tropical fruits.

Not sure about raw flax oil. Probably not. I think you should be able to take that along in your purse. But I wouldn't try taking any fresh fruits, as someone else said.

It'll be a GREAT adventure! Have fun!