Locavores Will Love It Here

Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2008

Learn more about Ecuador in International Living Postcards—your daily escape

Dear International Living Reader,

The locavore movement (eating only food produced within 100 miles or less of your home) is growing in the U.S. and around the world, and it’s an effort I can get behind. But in particularly cold climates it can be hard to get fresh produce year-round. No worries. I’ve found the perfect locavore locale.

High in the Ecuadorean Andes, a little less than two hours north of Quito, Otavalo is a Quechua indigenous town in a massive bowl of a valley with gape-jaw views of massive volcanoes, including Imbabura and Cotacachi. Perfect for crop growing, the equatorial sun shines brightly most days and temps never dip below freezing. Wear a T-shirt at midday and tug on a sweater in the late afternoon. A fireplace keeps you cozy at night.

The Otavalans are famous for their music and their woven textiles. Earth-toned wall hangings, red and orange carpets, and outrageously bright tablecloths flutter from doorways on every block. Even more of them, along with alpaca sweaters, wool hats, woven bags, scarves, and blankets are stacked high on tables tucked beneath blue plastic tarps, hundreds of which are squished into the central Plaza de Ponchos every day.

On Saturdays even more Indians come to town to sell their wares, not only textiles, but jewelry and artwork, churangas (small ukelele-type instruments), pan pipes made of reeds, baskets, ceramics, and more. The farmers come, too, in trucks piled high with fruits, vegetables, and people. Others bring pigs, cows, chickens, and cuy. Cuy is the Quechuan word for “guinea pig,” a local food staple. (Yes, I have eaten cuy…deep fried and splayed on a plate with a little cherry tomato in its mouth. They taste…like chicken, of course.)

In the vegetable market we made a game of finding the largest head of cauliflower, and we posed for photos with cabbages bigger than babies and carrots bigger than my arm. There are more varieties of potatoes than anyone might hope to identify. (The Andes is the birthplace of potatoes and thousands of varieties are grown here.) Squash, avocado, melons, nuts, citrus fruit, onions, herbs, grains, and spices…you name it, it’s all represented, along with hundreds of sundry items unrecognizable to me. No one can go hungry here.

For a measly dollar you can buy 30 oranges, 20 limes, a pound of chicken, or a plate piled high with rice, beans, and mystery meat from a makeshift restaurant on the street corner. In more traditional restaurants, prices for a complete almuerzo (lunch) range from $1.50 to $2.50 at the more upscale spots. Almuerzo includes soup, main course (a meat dish), dessert, and beverage. My favorite soup is the richly delicious cheese and potato confection called locro, usually served with a slice of avocado and a spicy salsa on the side.

Not only can you not go hungry here, you can’t stay true to any New Age diet. Instead, eat your fill of impossibly healthy vegetables, drink the deliciously thick fresh juices, and don’t worry about gaining a pound. The altitude here kicks metabolisms in gear and the weight seems to melt away. The walking helps, of course.

After lunch, we lost ourselves in the maze of the Plaza de Ponchos and emerged victoriously a few hours later with our Santa’s packs of purchases. A hooded wool sweater for me for $11, two wool fedoras for Dan for $12 each, and two bags full of gorgeous bedspreads ($16) and pillow shams ($3). And one superbly handcrafted set of Andean pan pipes, a bargain at any price.

Suzan Haskins
Your Latin America Insider, International Living

Editor’s Note: Ecuador not only has fantastic bargains on fresh fruit, but the real estate prices are also extremely undervalued. We found a prime ocean-view property for $39,000. But that is not uncommon in this stretch of undiscovered coastline that is due to break out onto the world’s prosperity stage in 2008. Find out more here.

Read related IL Postcards:

- Three Bedrooms and a View of the Andes for $150 a Month

- Ecuador: Perfect Weather, Ocean Views, Low Prices

- The Best Weather on Earth, Cheap