Buy Honduran Vegetables

Honduran avocados

The other day El Jefe stopped at his favorite vegetable stand to buy avocados. He asked for the Mexican (Hass) avocados that we usually buy. The vendor said, "No! Buy Honduran!"

El Jefe thought for a split second and said, "You're right. We need to support our own farmers." The vendor said, "Yes, we aren't going to buy those Mexican ones anymore."

So El Jefe bought these strange looking elongated avocados (about 10 inches long, 25 cm.). Most of the Honduran avocados that I've seen are the huge oval avocados with a large seed. The fruit is usually more bright yellow than green and has a slightly sweeter taste.

See Holy Mole! Guacamole! for a photo which shows the size and color of common Honduran avocados compared to Hass, and my most excellent guacamole recipe. (Yes, I used to have a life before June 28.)

I wasn't sure what to expect with these, but when I cut the first one open, it was absolutely beautiful. Perfect creamy texture. Not a blemish.

The taste was virtually like Haas but the bonus was that one avocado yielded as much as two of the small Mexican varieties for only L.2 more (L.10 vs. 8, or US $ .53 vs $ .42). This big plateful of slices sprinkled with lemon juice and salt is the fruit from just one of the avocados.

Yum. I'm sold on these! In fact, I planted the seeds. We'll see what happens.

If you live here in Honduras, look for Honduran veggies at the markets. I've mentioned in the past that a lot of the vegetables and fruits in the grocery stores (at least here in La Ceiba) are (or were) imported from Guatemala. Let's do what we can to help local Honduran producers.

I don't know if these particular avocados are exported, but I do know that a lot of Honduran veggies are exported to the US and I believe that Walmart groceries stores import a lot of Honduran produce. You can help Honduras by looking for that Honduras veggie sticker. You might even ask your grocer to stock more Honduran produce.

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Honduran bananas, pineapples, coffee, shrimp and tilapia are some of the common products exported to the US. Even though bananas and pineapples primarily come from big companies like Dole and Chiquita, they provide a lot of jobs in Honduras.

I'm sure that many Hondurans in the US miss some of their favorite Honduran food products. Here are a few sites which sell Honduran food and coffee products:

Food and other Honduran products:
The First Honduran Online Mall
Planeta Catracho
Catracholandia (in Spanish)

Coffee only:
Café Honduras (Welchez coffee)
Café Copán
Honduras Coffee Company
Brew Organic (be sure to select Honduras)


Thanks to Suzanne for finding most of these links.

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If you can help me out with more suggestions that I can give to readers about Honduran products and where they might find them, please let me know. I will be doing another article about other types of Honduran products sold in the US.

The Honduran economy is really hurting right now − more from the after effects of US economic crisis than the current political crisis, except in the areas of tourism and voluntourism, which are suffering tremendously from the unwarranted, politically motivated US travel advisory.

Tourism provides a lot of jobs in Honduras. So one of the best and most fun ways that you can help Honduras is to come to visit, whether it is as a tourist or a volunteer. Spend your tourist dollar in Honduras! Many of the hotels have great deals right now. (More on that later, too.)