Me in a Vivanda supermarket in Lima. Mountains of fresh produce!
In peru there is abundance of fruit and vegetables, it’s not very difficult to eat a wide variety of them and get more than your five a day. It is very fresh as it is all grown in Peru – bananas from the jungle and potatoes from the mountains – there is a climate in Peru for most types of crop.
In the UK people eat their main meal at dinner time, around 6pm or later, but in Peru people do at lunch. Most companies give an hour lunch break, so people can go an eat very cheaply a “menu” that it’s a three course meal sometimes four course meal (starter, main meal and dessert). This can be just 5 Soles in some places, which is about £1!
Potatoes! We have hundreds of varieties in Peru.
In Peru fruit and vegetables are very cheap because they are farmed locally, while processed foods are expensive, so people tend to eat less of them. The consequence of this is that you see few overweight people walking around.
There are some fast foods chains but a burger has the same price of a “menu” meal, so people prefer to eat a ‘menu’.
It’s weird but in Peru eating in McDonalds or KFC is kind of ‘cool’ because they are American businesses and everything American ‘must be cool’ for Peruvians. Some are very surpised when I tell them that it’s not cool here and it’s considered very cheap and unhealthy.
When I visit Peru I always look forward to eating really fresh bananas and avocadoes. I also miss some fruit that you cannot find in England such as Lucuma, Pepino and Tumbos. You can look these up on google!
