Tips From an Overseas Blogger

I keep up with a food blog from where my new home will be and in a recent post the author photographed an amazing array of local produce. It looked lovely! I already know that GMOs are not allowed in that country, which is fantastic and I am so thrilled about, but I wondered about the availability of organic produce and if eating produce without removable skins would be an issue, so I posed the question in his comments section. He responded with this very detailed response:

..."actually, a lot of produce in provincial markets is organic, for the sole reason that farmers can’t afford the fertilizers, etc. However, a lot of produce commercially grown for sale in large cities is sprayed with all manner of questionable stuff… There is no official certification process for organic produce, so be careful not to overpay for your vegetables that aren’t truly organic. But let me back up, your question is more complicated than it seems…

1. Westerner moving to third world country. Your stomach, no matter how strong, will have some adjusting to do in (city where I am moving to) coming from the U.S., particularly if you have not lived in a similar third world country before. There are all kinds of different bacterias, etc. in the food and your tummy will need to adjust to. This is just a part of the move. My wife and I have lived in several countries, western and not, and we also had similar adjustment periods, and not to freak you out, it gets fine once you have experienced some of the local bugs as it were… :(

2. Local tap water is generally not considered to be potable, as again, it can carry some forms of unsavory little critters, and the piping laid underground (while recently MUCH BETTER) can mix soil and water together. Local tap water is best boiled first, or as many local and foreign folks do, they buy bottled water which is conveniently delivered to your home in 5 gallon jugs. However, I do brush my teeth with tap water, cook with tap water, bath in the tap water, etc. Another aspect of the tap water, I suspect, is that it is not as treated as say American city water, lacking perhaps the chlorine, flouride or whatever they add to the water. Many locals, by the way, DO drink the tap water.

3. Tap water issues and produce issues differ. The concern about eating say lettuce or other greens or produce where you consume the peel comes from unsanitary forms of fertilizer or when rawish fertilizers manage to get lodged on the leaves (nightsoil, manure, etc. that hasn’t been properly pre-treated can send a fleck up onto your lettuce rather easily). These therefor have to be washed really well, and some foreigners we know use a special soap or cleansing agent in their water to achieve this. Personally, I don’t do this and simply wash well with tap water. I have a very sensitive stomach and in the past 15 years in (place where I am moving), I have only gotten a bum stomach a few times from food, mostly after eating shellfish, not greens or fruit.

4. The best thing is to know your suppliers or vendors. Further, a lot of the produce that is labelled organic is actually greenhouse grown, or hydroponic, so it is less prone to the whole yucky fertilizer situation.

5. You may also be surprised that most foreigners might take on household staff when they move here, to help with meal preparation, laundry and cleaning. This is another area of concern. If you do take staff, make sure they get a health clearance for say tuberculosis, intestinal parasites, etc. I don’t mean to scare you, but we do this in our own home. And in 15 years, have come across 1 member of the staff with tuberculosis who was treated and is fine now. Intestinal parasites can be passed from person to person by handling glasses, plates and eating utensils… You would be surprised by the percentage of the population with living pets in their intestinal tracts, but one can easily get rid of them. And in many cases they don’t really bother the host. I used to work in Indonesia and had a team of say 15-20 westerners under my purview and as a sort of semi-joke, I once gave all of them “worm pills” to purge themselves of local critters and while they laughed, I think every single one of them took the pills, and the next morning, at least 20% confirmed they were needed, enough said. :)

I once did a seminar for members of the Australian and New Zealand community and/or diplomatic core in (place where I am moving) about the vegetables available and I was amazed that so many of them didn’t realize that there was an abundance of stuff in local markets, oftentimes many proxies for veggies they missed from home, and that could be prepared in dishes they could relate to.

I hope that helped. It’s a slow Sunday afternoon so maybe I have given you more information than you were hoping for. Good luck on your move and email me when you get here if you are looking for particular sources of food. The availability of ingredients in (place where I am moving) has vastly improved in the past 10-15 years, but I suspect you will still have things from home that you will miss."

What valuable information! I hadn't thought of having my nanny get a health clearance. And someone suggested in the comments section to bring some probiotics with me to help with the intestinal adjustment process. Isn't the internet incredible? It astounds me sometimes. I will certainly be taking him up on the offer to email him when I arrive. How wonderful to have someone who is very knowledgeable about food be available to me as I adjust to my new city. I consider that to be an amazing blessing as I am on a path of eating better for wellness. I am so looking forward to becoming in top physical condition. It's high time!