Hi. My husband and I were having a conversation this weekend and were curious about something. And this question is more directed to people that live on the island and more specifically those that run restaurants on Bonaire. Where do you get your fresh produce from? What are the most typical types of vegetables and fruits that you purchase? How consistent is you supply?

Just wondering as my husband and I have become very "local food" oriented.

Thanks

hi mo...as you know, we only live there part time but i'll offer my depreciated two cents. we shop at the venezuelan fruit market for fruit (mostly melons and pineapple and the occasional plantain) and more for less (and sometimes la portugesa) for other produce (peppers and things like that)

Thanks Pat. I'm not toooooooooo jealous of your part time status.

Mara, We do the same as Pat, More for Less and also the Venezulan market.

Oh my god the watermelon is awesome !

The fruitera in the same road as China Nobo has good fresh fruit and veg, quite a bit is grown on Bonaire, others come from the Venezuelan boats.
More for less and cash and carry have a good range, but be careful it's often been stored much too cold and if you don't eat it same day it goes into the compost.
Cultimara of course has a reasonably good range, particularly of the staple diet stuff, but sometimes additional items.

This brings up a question in my mind - who are the supermarkets blaming now for all the empty shelves. None of them seem to have re-stocked properly for many weeks now, and they can't blame the cruise ships this time!

Yo Mo..Here's a little secret. More for less gets their fresh produce in on Thursdays. Go there after 3:00 for fresh produce...shhh.....

what sort of things are grown on Bonaire and how easily are they available? We are trying to get a feel about what is grown on the island, what is imported, what is expected by the regular consumer and what is expected from a restauranteur.

the only locally grown crops i can think of (and i'm sure there are a few more) are corn (maishe) and sorghum (i forget the local name). it's not sweet corn but is ground up for cornmeal. i'm not sure where the locally produced cornmeal (from which funchi is made) is available.

i know michael and some other bonaire people can give you more information than i can.

I know that several of the fresh vegetables sold in the Fruitera (near China Nobo) are grown on Bonaire, because I've seen the local residents bringing them in & spoken to the owner about them. Certainly Okra and organic Spinach were there today, but I didn't have chance to get a full run-down on everything. I think some of the lettuce is also grown on Bonaire.
Be aware though that in some shops, local can mean Curacao - like the "local" eggs in Warehouse that according to their packaging come from Curacao.