(HT) (3) How do They do that? - FOOD

So I kind of wanted to start a series of writings that I might write every other post on the How do’s and dont’s of the people down here. Let me know if it interesting and useful so that I know to keep it up. Furthermore, let me know if you are wondering how they do a specific something down here.
Food. Everybody needs it and there’s a lot of different types and ways to get it; you can probably figure that out just by walking through the mall food court. But what kind of food do people eat down here? Is it like having a nationwide Taco Bell or Trini’s Restaurant or Little Mexico where the specials include bean burritos, quesadillas, or tacos?


Well, I can certainly say NO!

I would say the food eaten depends on where you are and how much money you have.
In the very urban areas, there are fancy restaurants and some not so nice restaurants; there are mom and pop shops and there are fast food chains like Burger King and McDonalds; and there are even malls and stores like Wal-Mart with many selections of food. People who have money can certainly utilize any of these options to get food.
These people along with more normal class people living in urban areas also go to the market to get what they want to eat. When you think of a market, think of having all the variety of food, used and new clothing, household gadgets, hygiene products, and other daily living accessories of a supermarket like Meijers, but put all that in a setting outside under tents or in an open-air building in the heart of the bustling town. Everything is exposed to the outside and the creatures that live in the environment from the meat to the veggies to the fruit. Pictures tables with tarps overhead for protection from the rain or sun and aisle crammed with people trying to squeeze by those buying or just gawking at possible purchases. Listed prices do not exist which contributes to a constant exchange or offers between the buyer and the seller until the right price is met or the buyer leaves. The environment is not neat like a Meijers either. Food scraps and trash litter the aisles and dogs wander about looking for their fill. There is no shopping music to play overhead. Radios can be blaring and almost certainly someone is yelling about the newest latest and greatest medicine or the truck load of juicy muskmelon that just came in from the fields of the avocados that are the 4 for 5 quetzales (the local currency down here). The market is messy, confusing, and unorganized for the first-time shopper and can be even for the experienced shopper. And as many times as I have gotten lost, paid too much for something, and not found where the thing that I wanted was, I sure do enjoy the market and the unique exchange it represents. It certainly serves its purpose of getting the people their necessities.
OK so if you don’t live in an urban area like most Guatemalans, what do you do?
Well certainly you can still travel to a market. I would guess that people generally live at most 1-2 hours away from a market which comes once a week (some market move and some are permanent). This would be an easy solution, but many people cannot buy everything they need – so they grow it.
As I mentioned earlier the main staples that are grown are corn and black beans. The beans are generally cooked in a pot with garlic, onions, and salt sometimes and served almost like a hearty soup. The bean can also be liquefied to form a paste to eat as well. The kernels of the corn are almost always dried and hardened while on the stalk. They kernels are then cooked, ground up with calcium to make a dough, and made into tortillas. These tortillas here are hand-made, thick, CD -size disks which don’t compare to the skimpy, packaged tortillas made of wheat which we can buy in the stores. Sometimes, but not very often, corn is harvested before it dries and the corn is roast on a fire and eat off the cob. The corn is not sweet like our sweet corn. To me, it really does not have much flavor and is quite chewy.
Other things that these rural families might have depend on where they live and their corresponding climate. Coffee, bananas, oranges, papayas, mangos, limes, and plantains all can be grown (but not necessarily all of them in the same region). Garden fruits, vegetables and herbs like radishes, basil, oregano, potatoes, peppers, squashes, onions, cabbage, broccoli, are also possible things which can be grown.
Unfortunately may poorer families many only live on corn and coffee or corn, coffee, and beans without eating much or any fruits or vegetables. This can sometimes be because they do not how to grow something other than corn or beans or that they are not used to doing so, because they can not afford to do so using their current knowledge, because the land is poor in nutrients and steep, or because they occupy all their land for the corn and beans.
So this is where I attempt to help a bit. I help them start planting more of a variety of fruits and vegetables allocating land for these things ahead of time. I help them learn how to improve their soils cheaply utilizing techniques they once used in the past like composting and making terraces for steep terrains. I teach them the importance of nutrition giving them tips such as not to drink coffee with beans at all your meals and not to give coffee to kids since coffee reduces the absorption of nutrients like iron (beans are a big source of iron).
Well, that’s all I got right now. Let me know if you want any more explanations on the world of food here and I will be happy to try to answer them.