Throughout my time living in Cochabamba and working with Banco de Alimentos de Bolivia, many of my most memorable experiences have been in the markets here. Coming from the United States, when I thought of a “market” I thought of Kroger or Walmart, or maybe a farmers’ market. But here, especially being part of the food bank, the local markets and even the supermarket chains have been super interesting to explore.
Inside a Santa Cruz market where we collect produce
So far, I’ve gone shopping at two different supermarket chains here: Hipermaxi and IC Norte. When I went grocery shopping for the first time in Cochabamba, it was honestly very different from my previous grocery shopping experiences. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but many of the ingredients and brands that I was used to and that were super accessible in the United States weren’t available in Bolivia or, if they were, were imported and thus more expensive. For example, a 13 ounce container of Nutella costs $4.79 at Target in the United States, whereas at Hipermaxi, based on the official exchange rate, it’s closer to $25. I was also surprised to see milk, juice, and yogurt in bags and eggs sitting out unrefrigerated, practices different than what I’d seen in the United States. I’ve definitely had to adapt to cooking using the ingredients and brands that are here, but I have to say that I’ve come to love a lot of the brands and will definitely be missing them once I leave (special shoutout to Saladix chips and Pilfrut Durazno juice.)
The ice cream section in La Cancha
Another unique market experience here in Cochabamba has been going to La Cancha. La Cancha is one of South America’s biggest markets and it has thousands of vendors, selling really anything that you could be looking for. My first time going I went with Joshua and two people from the food bank, Yu and Carolina. It was super interesting to see all of the things being sold, especially the items that normally wouldn’t be sold in a supermarket in the United States or in Bolivia. For example, in the meat section, there were definitely some cuts for sale that I wasn’t used to seeing, like the nose of a cow which can be used for some soups. There were also live animals for sale, including chickens, bunnies, puppies, kittens, rats, birds, and guinea pigs. Around 48% of people in Cochabamba identify as being Indigenous, and as such there are many vendors selling Quechua and Aymara clothing, aguayos, and materials to use in the honoring of Pachamama (Mother Earth.) Each time that I’ve gone to La Cancha, I’ve been amazed at the breadth of goods being offered and it never ceases to surprise me what I might find during a visit there.
A cute dog in Mercado Campesino
At Banco de Alimentos de Bolivia, one of our main sources of donations is the vendors at markets like Mercado Campesino. When we go to the market to collect donations, we usually load up a cart with some empty boxes and bring cards with information about the food bank and go one by one from casero to casero. Sometimes, the vendors will have some fruits or vegetables that are less likely to be sold for one reason or another. For example, maybe they might have a strange shape, be smaller than normal, or be colored differently. These products the caseros are often willing to donate, and from there we can bring the produce back to the food bank and go through it to make sure it’s safe to eat before getting it to the beneficiaries. One of my favorite memories from collecting produce with the food bank was in Santa Cruz. This time, I was paired with Pame and was going with her to help her carry the collections. Pame speaks Quechua, and it was honestly really enlightening to see how the caseritas opened up to her when they saw how she spoke their language with the kindness and gentleness that anyone who has met Pame is so familiar with. I think that just goes to show the effect that such compassion and connection can have on many other contexts in our day to day lives.
Capinota
Since coming here, I’ve also gotten to see how the food gets to the market during a visit to Capinota, a town about two hours outside of Cochabamba. Jheysson, a director at Banco de Alimentos de Bolivia, says that Capinota is where the majority of food in Cochabamba comes from. There are fields sprawling as far as the eyes can see filled with crops that will be harvested for produce and sent to the markets. Where there’s no crops, there’s cows, chickens, or other animals that will be used for food. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a Pil truck picking up milk from a local dairy farm. Pil is a very large dairy company in Bolivia, so it was nice to see that the large companies depend on the local farmers. My own grandparents are farmers, so I always love when the smaller, family farms are being supported. There in Capinota, we were able to pick up a donation of carrots and potatoes that had just been harvested and talk to some of the people working to pull up carrots from the ground, which was really cool.
Getting to learn from the many different market environments in Cochabamba during my time with the food bank has been one of the highlights of my Loewenstern experience. It has made me feel more connected with the people and cultures of Bolivia and developed my appreciation for local food systems and the people who sustain them. I’m so grateful for Banco de Alimentos de Bolivia and for the Loewenstern Fellowship for allowing me to work with such an incredible organization in such a beautiful country.