Local Food

There is much food grown in the Monteverde area and we purchase items regularly from the grocery as well as fresh produce and dairy from many local residents. Attached are some pictures of locally grown and produced items. Advantages of purchasing locally: Time from the field to our table is quick - food is fresh. Many farmers grow organically - less chemicals going into our bodies. Transportation is not a huge factor - fruit can be picked and sold while ripe and it does not need to be engineered to survive long rough trips or handling. Additional costs of transporting food is minimal when it is moved for a few miles rather than thousands of miles. We shares hugs, handshakes and smiles with Benito, Maco, Pepito, Victoria, Rufina, Meg, Glenda, Andy, Flori, Kathya and others who harvest and carry the produce on their back, milk the cows and goats, make the tamales, bake the bread, pluck the chickens, teach us how to make yogurt and more.

And the bigger picture: less fuel for manufacturing fertilizer and for transporting goods means less resource consumption, less pollution of air and water, and less carbon output. Buying locally directly stimulates the financial well-being of our neighbors resulting in less dependency on external factors such as big-money or political influences. We see the bananas growing in a yard, the goats being milked, the yogurt fermenting on our counter, the hens sitting on eggs, the cows grazing and we know where the food comes from while the boys gain an understanding of their dependency on the natural world.