Eating Organic in Bali

Every Saturday, there’s an organic market in Ubud. I was so excited to go – looking forward to it since I got to Bali! Unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing. Ten tables and only two with produce. Ah well, at least the consciousness is there and the start of people getting together which is WAY cool.

Organic Market in Ubud

Baby Organic Plants

I got some spinach, tomatoes, bananas and my biggest catch – a huge bag of organic vanilla beans for US$11! In Australia I spent $3 on just one inorganic one. I’ll be making vanilla smoothies, vanilla infusions, raw vanilla ice cream, vanilla body oil, vanilla agave – vanilla heaven! I started using more vanilla after hearing David Wolfe say how good it is for you and yet it’s not one of the biggest products he sells – so I’ll take that as a somewhat unbiased endorsement. LOL. I might even repackage them and sell them online. Bali is crazy with vanilla!

Hundred Vanilla Beans!

Then I went to the shiny new supermarket. It’s on the outskirts of Ubud past the river and quite a trek but worth it because I finally found a converter for my Tribest personal blender. Now I can make smoothies and dressings! They also have a huge selection of fruit and veggies, some organic but mostly not. They sell the cheapest young cocos that I’ve found so far at US$.75 if you can open them yourself. Saw some fruit that I’m not familiar with but think I’ll give it go! Maybe I’ll post pics and you can tell me if it’s worth it or not. They had fresh (not dried) dates still on the stem. Has anyone tried a fresh date? I might have to purely for research purposes of course.

Ubud's New Supermarket

Today, I went to the outdoor food market in the early morning before it turns into a crafts market. A lot of food, but not a lot of variety. Everyone seemed to have the same items and not many green leafies to be found. There were durians, some mangos, papayas, lychees but mostly potatoes, chilies, limes, onions, garlic and spices. I got a bunch of lychees – haven’t had any since my ladder-climbing days in Kaui when I picked them myself. Good memories!