Today I’m taking you with me to go produce shopping. I was asked about the availability of food in terms of expat produce shopping for vegans and vegetarians. Since I live in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, that is where we are shopping.
I’m happy to see that so many people who are considering becoming an expat are concerned about their health and eating well.
If you’re ready to have an ageless body, check out The 5 Essential Keys to an Ageless Body.
This video is in response to a question I got from last week’s expat video, Top 13 Criteria to Consider Before You Become an Expat.
Shopping for Produce in Stores
We have modern grocery stores with a decent variety of produce. Everything is seasonal here. There are times you may not be able to get something you would find ordinary at home.
You learn to adapt. You also learn to be adventurous and eat new foods.
You may have to go to a few different places to find everything you need.
We have Costco, and in the last few years, they have greatly increased their organic offerings. They usually have a good selection of produce, but restaurants shop early so don’t wait until the afternoon to shop for produce. Many times I’ve had to go back the next day because the organic spinach was all grabbed up by the restaurants before I got there.
Today we are going to a produce place that, before Costco, supplied a lot of local restaurants with their produce. I’ve shopped here for over 25 years. They have 2 locations about 5 minutes from each other and there are other small shops in this general area if you’re looking for something in particular they don’t have.
I posted photos of the produce department in a grocery store with last week’s expat article, along with the bakery department.
There are more organic farmers markets popping up all the time and they are going for longer seasons.
Things may be different here because this area, at its foundation, is a tourist area. Even though the population can support things year around, the mindset of people hasn’t caught up yet.
Organic Food
Every year there are more and more organic farms closer to Los Cabos.
Also, our food is not GMO. No worries about eating papaya here.
There has always been a lot of organic produce grown on the Baja Peninsula, but it was being grown for US companies and didn’t find its way into our markets without first being trucked to the US, purchased from those companies and then trucked over 1,000 miles back down here.
Our largest farmers market goes from November to May. One is still going twice a week and it’s July. So 12 months of farmers markets may not be far off.
We also have 2 different companies that offer CSA produce delivery starting late fall and running until the end of May.
One allows you to order week to week and the other is a subscription paid in advance.
I have used both.
If you have more specific questions on Cabo, I’m happy to answer them.
Produce Availability
In general, from what I’ve seen, food costs vary greatly depending on the country you are considering moving to and how far you are from a major city.
For example, I moved to Cabo in 1991. This town was dead after Easter until October when I big fishing tournament brought tourists back.
During that time produce was scarce. It wasn’t worth it for the one little grocery store to pay for a truck to bring veggies over 1000 miles when they might not be sold.
So we packed up our coolers and drove to the big city, La Paz, 2 hours from here. During the off-season, we’d do that every couple weeks to stock up.
It could be like that in other areas if you want to live in a small village that’s more remote.
In that case, you’d either do what I did or eat whatever the people eat there.
When you’re a vegetarian or vegan, that’s easier said than done.
If produce is a major consideration for your move, check out Facebook groups fro the area you are considering moving to and talk to people. And of course, go there and check it out for yourself.
Just remember that food you see one time of year may not be there the whole year.
Again, any questions you have about being an expat, just ask!
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