Fruits and Veggies

[Ms. Shah]

I was wondering if anyone can tell me what types of fruits and veggies are available. I heard coconut water is available?? Also for milk, I know on certain islands it is not homogenized/pasturized but I was wondering how it is on Saba. Any help would be great.

[rdecastro]

I was wondering if anyone can tell me what types of fruits and veggies are available. I heard coconut water is available?? Also for milk, I know on certain islands it is not homogenized/pasturized but I was wondering how it is on Saba. Any help would be great.


Various types are available. Sometimes the boats are delayed and so is the produce.

I don't know about coconut water. Milk is pasturized, just like in the states. There is also UHT milk available, and soy products.

[sabaspouse2006]

Here is my take on the grocery store that I emailed another spouse about. The short answer of your question is that there is coconut milk available in cans in the stores. There is coconut water in the coconut trees. :)

Milk is the same as you would get in a US grocery store. Cold milk and the super pasturized stuff that you can buy off the shelves. We've drank both with equal comfort.

Here is my reply....

This is a hard one to explain. There are three fair sized grocery stores here and one smaller dry goods store. You can get just about anything that you need but you cannot be brand loyal. For example you can get scouring powders but not always Comet. You can get coffee but maybe not the brand you want. The meat situation is silly and I find the choices a little limiting. We order meat from Cost U Less on St. Maarten and have it shipped in to Saba.

Food is brought onto the island on Wednesdays. You would think on a tropical island that we would have an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies. No. :-D The few things that are grown here include guava, mangoes, bananas, and bread fruit. Everything else is shipped in. For example, sometimes there is cauliflower, sometimes none comes on the boat. Is it a hardship? Not really. I think it is all in creativeness and sense of humor. I don't mind it and others REALLY do. I find you have to just meal plan around what comes fresh that week....

There are lots of "normal" things like packaged cereals, cookies, canned foods, baking products, noodles, pastas, sauces, frozen foods, etc. All the basics are here and they have a variety of ethnic foods...... We shipped in spices and totally didn't need to (other than cayenne pepper).

Really, as long as your family isn't too picky, the grocery stores have most of everything you'll need.

Hope that helps some.

[Boulderunner]

What about organic products. I know its a longshot but how about Horizon milk even? Has anyone considered having items shipped from the states from Trader Joes or a similar place? BTW I was kidding about the veal. I dont eat baby cows.

[amyames]

you can find some organic products, but not a lot. sometimes the organic products are a bit odd, such as organic cake mix (who has time to bake and when they do who reaches for the organic cake mix? then again...someone will prove me wrong!).

You can find Silk Soy Milk at the BigRock store along with organic granola, and sometimes I even saw organic cereal such as Kashi Go Lean, but that's about it. If there are organic products you cannot live without, then either ship them to Saba or bring them along in the suitcases.

[firstdonoharm]

Is there any chance of finding organic meat or eggs? Just asking....

[wanabedoctor]

Amyames is correct. Also, there are some frozen foods (meals) that are organic and some may have organic meat in them. Other than this, there are no organic meat and eggs for sale at the stores. Restaurants serve goat meat from time to time and it is basically organic. I say it is basically organic b/c there are many goats on the island and their diet consists mainly of grass and tropical fruits that have fallen to the ground. However, there is always a chance that a goat may have spongiform encelopathy (mad cow disease). Spongiform encelopathy has been found in other mammals like deer and goats (not only cows). But, I think the goats on Saba are safe b/c they are isolated on this 5 square mile island....and I have never seen a goat show any symptoms that would lead me to believe that they may have spongiform encelopathy. Also, these goats on Saba are not fed other ground up goats in their food (like many commercial cows are fed in the U.S., Canada, and many other countries around the world). I also ate goat meat once on Saba and I think it is good....but I don't think I will eat any more b/c I typically do not like to eat mammals. If you like fresh fish, you can find a local who may sell you some. When I return to the island I will try to seek one of these locals out. I am also sending many food products to myself and am packing my suitcases w/ as much food as I can possibly carry. Hope this helps. :)

[sweetpeapotts]

AHHH COCONUT WATAH!!!! Well it isn't for sale in the grocery but I get my own from the tree outside my house-problem is you need a machete to cut off the top....I also have found a local lady who grows her own veggies and fruits-i just bought ground provisions (such as sweet potatoe), seasonings,sweet peppers, and a pawpaw from her.....email me at doodfaye@hotmail.com and I can tell you more....like who and where....

LP

[firstdonoharm]

Thanks wanabe!

Your info was very helpful. I am actually almost a vegetarian but eat chicken and fish only. Never had goat before but there is always a first! I hear you about mad "animal" disease. Sad but true that the cows are fed that way in the US and Can. Go figure....who would feed herbivores meat? I guess the cows weren't getting enough nutrients from their diet and needed a freakin atkins diet! Saddddddddd

[Boulderunner]

Bovine Spongiform encepholopathy is the result of Prions, or misfolded proteins which have the potential to react with other proteins to start a chain reaction,l of sorts, leading to other proteins in the brain becoming misfolded, the end result being the formation of Beta amyloid plaques and tangles ( if my memory serves me). For goats on Saba to have "mad cow" they would have had to have been fed prions to begin with. In short, I really doubt there is any infected animals on Saba.

[Bruce]

4538

I'm not exactly sure where everyone else gets their "Fresh Fruit" however, I did catch these young ladies and an unidentified young man stocking up !!! :) Please Note: They received permission from the lady who owns the property...
Sorry Guys.... just couldn't resist!!!!:) :)

[psycpixie]

Can one find Toblerone on the island? Amazing candy! It serves as a stress relief!

[Experienced]

Can one find Toblerone on the island? Amazing candy! It serves as a stress relief!

Hello?? You think this is some kind of third world backwater?? I know My Store has it and probably the other grocers, too.

[Chitownguy]

On Saba there seems to be quite a large variety of fruit available on the island to be picked, from avocados, plantains, bananas, breadfruit, mangos and even cashews (Nuts). I’m sure there’s even more out there, you just need to know where to look and when to pick. I saw another student yesterday with a tree picker which looks like a long stick with a tiny basket at the end of it, which makes picking easier I would assume. I personally have plantains and mangos in my yard. The problem is there is little or no time to pick them.:cry:

[sweetpeapotts]

Fantastic pics B!!

[Experienced]

Fantastic pics B!!
What about my Toblerone pic?? I didn't even blot out the name ;)

[jayehs]

wow med school student running linux? i don't think i've ever seen that

[ducman]

You know... I was also trying to figure out whether he was using GNOME or KDE...

Mad props for using Linux!

[KingMo]

You know... I was also trying to figure out whether he was using GNOME or KDE...

Mad props for using Linux!

Definitely GNOME. Check out the paw icon at the bottom of the taskbar...classic gnome signature.

[sweetpeapotts]

What about my Toblerone pic?? I didn't even blot out the name ;)


:) Where did you get that (Toblerone) anyway??? It is gianormous...I hope you don't eat it all at once b/c I heard the dentist only visits Saba once a week on a Thursday...!! ;)

[Experienced]

:) Where did you get that (Toblerone) anyway??? It is gianormous...I hope you don't eat it all at once b/c I heard the dentist only visits Saba once a week on a Thursday...!! ;)
I didn't eat it all in one sitting this time...... I've learned from my mistakes
:pool

[Tellingitlikeitis]

you can for sure get all the e coli spinach that you want......