Where is the best organic produce market found in the DR?

Hi, is there an Inespre in Bonao. In Santo Domingo this is where my parents and other local get their fresh produce. La sirena doesn't sound like the appropriate place to purchase produce, sounds like going to Walmart for food. BUT that idea about growing your own and creating a permaculture like situation sounds amazing, self- sustainability is the ultimate luxury  I feel.

I am not sure we have any rules for organic and or if they are enforced!!!!  Sometimes Nacional imports "organic" veggies.  Try nacional in Santiago maybe.

And Bravo in Santiago sometimes has a bit of organic.

Here Pola occasionally had "organic" veggie section.

We also have Patrick "the veggie" man who goes to Constanza three mornings a week and sells "organic" veggies from his truck.  We have gotten some amazing stuff from him

Bob K

So how do you know it's actually organic???

Here in the DR every one tells the truth...right?????  We take his word for it and his produce is far superior to anything in the stores.  So at least it is probably a better product at worse

Bob K

So true Bob, great answer.....

I heard about Patrick the Veggie man. How do I contact him? Anyone has his phone or email?

I know about Bravo in Santiago. That's my go to place. They have some health food items like organic tahini and some other brands that normally are in USA health food stores.

When I say "organic", my thinking is veggies produced without toxic chemical products for fertilizer, pesticides or herbicides. Also, the water supply used should be filtered for heavy metals, bacteria, etc.

One way or the other I am going to distribute natural food products here if I have to grow it or import it myself.  This is totally ridiculous not having a real good supply of good organic produce. Especially in a country that can grow anything all year round!

Patrick only works on the north coast in the Sosua area

Bob K

Bob you took the words out of my mouth.   

Dreamtime what you consider totally ridiculous may be based in reality.  Dominicans do not eat healthy,  they don't have money for it. AS a general rule  they can barely afford to eat and drink! SO asking them to pay "ridiculous" prices for organic is not going to work.   Just look at their typical diet and you will see - piles of white rice - flavored with sopita (MSG) and a bit of meat - flavored with sopita and  maybe a bit of salad.   

Your market may in fact be ridiculously small and  hardly worth the effort!  I am not positive  but you need to seriously  investigate.

Oh Dreametime I agree with planner. Your chance of success unless in a very large and well off Expat community are basically a snowball's chance in hell.

Bob K

What IS ridiculous is expecting to get any nutrition or health for your body when paying too cheap. Sorry, it doesn't work. It's like going to the gas station and expecting diesel to cost 95 pesos when the cost is 145 pesos and wondering why the car doesn't run with the cheap gas. Its like this with lots of things. Not just food.

Secondly, your mindset that "organic" has to be crazy expensive is also off.

Thirdly, it doesn't matter if the market I'm interested in is small. There are thousands of people,hotels and tourists that exist here that will want what I have to offer. That's plenty of people that have no other alternative. I'll take that chance.

I think you guys are missing my point. I'm not targeting Dominicans for my clients. They are a side channel. But it will still work on a small scale for them too.

"SO asking them to pay "ridiculous" prices for organic is not going to work.  "

We are not questioning the value of good vegetables and fruits far from it.   We are questioning your assumptions.  Do you have any idea how cheap the resorts and hotels are here in terms of buying food????  You might want to do that homework before you assume!  I do know.

Is there a niche?  likely there is.  I do hope you find it.

Dude, is not that difficult. Go to Constanza and find yourself a family who grows fruits and veggies and do not want or have the money to buy expensive pesticides to keep their crops safe and use good old fashion methods. Water quality I'm not sure about. But I get what you mean by "Organic", you mean responsibly grown I take.
My mother is from Constanza and her uncle owns 10+ Tareas and that's what they do grow and sell their produce., as far as I know they grow what the locals eat but you need to network and i'm sure you can find someone that will grow what you want to sell, broccoli, kale, collards and the sorts aren't that difficult to grow. And always remember in Santo Domingo, (I hate to say it because I'm dominican) but money solves many if not all problems.

It has been stated that the DR is the #1 world leading exporter of organic produce.  If so, why isn't it more prevalent locally?  The reason "organic" is so expensive in the US is because of the lower yield & generally smaller size..  The DR has such fertile soil & multiple crop growing season allows it to grow vast quantities of "organic" produce. Perhaps I'm misinformed, but I don't understand the difference of opinions as to the availability.  Please enlighten me. Thanks.   .

I am not sure where that info comes from honey, I've not heard that we are the largest  exporter of organic.  OUr soil is NOT all good, in fact some is horrible.   Yes we do have multiple crop seasons and thank goodness for that.....   

Why isn't it prevalent?   Laws of supply and demand -  few are willing to pay the price.   Organic means lower yield and higher prices! 

Is it worth it -  maybe.  I am no expert on that but I can tell you I do not buy organic and I can afford it.

Here is what a quick search  showed:

In Latin America, 220'000 producers managed 6.4 million hectares of agricultural land organically in 2007. This constitutes 20 percent of the world's organic land. The leading countries are Argentina (2'777'959 hectares), Brazil (1'765'793 hectares) and Uruguay(930'965 hectares). The highest shares of organic agricultural land are in the Dominican Republic and Uruguay with more than six percent and in Mexico and Argentina with more than two percent. Most organic production in Latin America is for export. Important crops are tropical fruits, grains and cereals, coffee and cocoa, sugar and meats. Most organic food sales in the domestic markets of the countries occur in major cities such as Buenos Aires, Mexico City and São Paulo.

Fifteen countries have legislation on organic farming, and four additional countries are currently developing organic regulations. Costa Rica and Argentina have both attained third country status according to the EU regulation on organic farming.

In recognition of the growing importance of the organic sector to Latin America's agricultural economy, governmental institutions have begun to take steps towards increasing involvement; governments are beginning to play a central role in the promotion of organic agriculture. The types of support in Latin American countries range from organic agriculture promotion programs to market access support by export agencies. In a few countries, limited financial support is being given to pay certification cost during the conversion period.

There it is in a nutshell,

Most the crops are sorted and the best are exported. This is why is not available to the locals. I just discussed this with my dad this morning, why is it that I can get a better tasting Platano in NYC and not in the Capital so close to where it was grown., and I think is just that exportation.

Organic grown means small yields and higher prices to us, I shop Whole foods and farmers market while in NYC or Florida, but it doesn't have to be the reality, it just takes one responsible grower to take that initiative.

While in Florida, I rather drive to Trader Joe's or Whole foods in south Tampa, than buy anything food related at the local Walmart.
On a lighter note; have you tasted Strawberries from Constanza and Watercrest from Jarabacoa, and digged out your own Yucca for breakfast, holy smokes that's life.

Responsible grower has little to do with yield and price!     If you cannot use any chemicals etc then you will lose  portions of your crops to  pests and  disease. If you can only use organic fertilizers then your options are limited and your yields will be too.

IF you produce less per acre then the price is higher. Simple business principals.  I am not saying one is better then the other only that there is a reason organic  costs MORE.

No honey. Just because a crop is organic doesn't mean you lose everything to pests and diseases. It means you don't use toxic chemicals on the crops. You use natural pest remedies and fertilizers.

Using toxic chemicals like roundup not only destroys the water table underneath, but the top soil too and then once you start using it you cannot use anything else on that land and eventually your yield starts to go down and you are stuck like muck and can't get out.

It's propaganda that you get higher yields over the long run and you are locked into Monsanto seeds. If that's not bad enough, you also poison all your workers that work in the fields harvesting and spray the stuff. It's a lose lose situation no matter how you look at it.

The purpose of Monsanto is to lock people in so they can't get out and keep extracting money from them forever. They want to monopolize the food supply with proprietary seeds that farmers need to buy every year instead of reseeding naturally from the crops. This is a perversion of life on this planet. When Monsanto seeds infect neighboring crops through the air Monsanto sues those people for patent infringement. It's insane.

There is no bigger danger to life on this planet than Monsanto causing kaos with the natural order and trying to monopolize planetary life and food. Once Monsanto infects countries with their "terminator seeds" it's hard to reverse that damage. That's why many countries who are not stupid have banned GMO seeds and/or GMO production.

I am near Sosua now. How do I get a hold of veggie man?

Sorry the debate over organic or not or GMO or not isn't gonna happen here.  Suffice to say you would have an uphill struggle honey.

Good luck,  please keep us informed if you find sources and or start your own farm.

Here is a link to his FB page.   Send him a note
- facebook.com/patrick.holoboff?fref=nf

Bob K

We grow our own bananas, and some more fruit and veggies on our small yard, buying the rest from a truck that comes to the village every morning (Bayahibe / Dominicus). Honestly, I don't think these farmers have money to buy fertilizers, so for me that is as much organic as you can get. Their prices are the same as at the bigger markets, but their stuff is always fresh. If you want to have an organic market, I guess your bets bet would be Punta Cana / Bavaro area, there are many non Dominicans that might be willing to buy organic produce.

By the way just compared how bananas tasted in Canada, cannot even get close to how they taste in DR bought on the street.
Denise

I agree on the taste of the bananas.  When I go back to the states I cannot eat them.. Like eating cardboard,

Bob K

store bought tomatoes in the US are the same; tasteless.  In fact, most of the fruits and vegetables I've eaten in Europe are 100x more flavorful than in the US.  We have plenty though.....

Bob, having never eaten cardboard, I can't make that analogy, however, I can attest to the vast difference in texture, smell & most of al,l flavor.  The difference is akin to the difference between canned peas & fresh shucked peas,  canned tuna & fresh tuna.  .I'm starting to salivate.

You are making me hungry

Ok time to look in the fridge to try and figure out dinner.  Fresh grilled veggies will be part of it for sure

Bob K

Hey i wanted to say two things about your post...first i would be interested in organic produce....of course at a decent price  but i am especially interested in finding non gmo feed for animals apparently most feed comes from the u.s. and is gmo...also from what i understand organic methods of growing were introduced a few years back but because it does not yield the same amounts people got discouraged and decided to go back to using chemicals

Hi
In Hungary, I owned a small organic farm. Here, in RD I try to do same. But: because tropical zone, the soil is not fertile enough for choosey vegetables( the soil microorganisms work to fast), so you need to ad an extremly high quantity of fertilizers. And belive me, the ammonium nitrate, NPK and other chemicals are more- more cheap then the organic compost. Using manure, dung other natural fertilisers, double problem : dificult to colect, transport,sproud, and thanks to tropical zone, have to sanatize it ( with chemicals). If no, high health hazard risk( e- coli is in love for this country as well)!
What we can do? Change our mentality, forget organic vegs, what are well- know at home 9 moderate climate), and think in indigenous or well established plants : banana, coffe, cacao etc.
And do not forget: buying local "organic" vegs, withouth any certificate, you will be cheated( is not organic product), or you put your health at an extreme risc of contamination.
Sorry, but this is the true.

I have to agree with you.  We run a farm raising  feed corn and it is very very  tough to do. Fertilizers are ridiculously expensive here as import licenses are controlled!   Organic fertilizer is expensive and not always what you expect them to be.   The soil is not good, previous crops have depleted everything and nothing is ever put back! 

Organic is a bit of a joke unless you actually know the people, go to the farm and check it out yourself and even then you need to wonder.

Planner is correct. Your best bet for organic produce is grow it yourself.

Bob K

So if you just plant using homemade compost and chicken manure you will not get a crop? Im a little confused...and your farm of corn feed is it gmo?

GMO seeds are illegal here. YOu can import corn from anywhere that is GMO but you cannot grow it here.

Once you plant now you are dealing with insects weeds and fungus issues!

Some suggestions would be permaculture and companion planting crop rotation and natural sprays...im not sure how this would work on a large scale but I think of or smaller gardens and land it would work
Do you have any suggestions about feed sources...what about your farm and others like it...are there others here in DR? Do you sell outside of la Romana? Its good that the corn is go free are there any other things you do that go more towards the natural route. Any info would be helpful.thanks

Companion planting does not work on a large scale,  crop rotation we do,  however most do not. They plant sugar cane year after year and completely deplete the soil.   

We grow feed corn, soya, sorghum  and food for our employees only at this stage.  We are currently working in the intermediary market with our feed corn and will have about  21,000 bushels for sale by month end! Anyone wants local  corn  just let me know....

I am definitely interested in getting some. I want to buy some hens but before I do I wanted to find the best quality feed available without the expense if shipping from the u.s. where could I pick up the corn? What is sorghum? Do you have a website?