Every place has its set of what appear to be strange customs and habits to an outsider. One that we discovered during this trip to Kauai is the operation of the farmer’s markets on this island.
Some background first. We’re serious farmer’s market shoppers, buying everything we want from there except for milk and some Indian vegetables such as chillies. We shop at the farmer’s market because we want to encourage local farmers, because it’s an environmentally conscious choice (maybe even more so than organic) since the average food in a supermarket travels anywhere from 1300-1500 miles before it hits the shelves and finally because it’s fun and helps engender a sense of community. In our travels too, we look for them and buy from there as much as possible.
Kauai has a farmer’s market, in a different part of the island, every day of the week. There are two kinds of farmer’s markets in Kauai, one called the Sunshine Farmer’s Market which is government run and is the larger of the two and the other is the Private Farmer’s Market. Yesterday we visited one of the latter that was held in Waipa, near Hanalei and today we went to the Kapaa branch of the former. The Sunshine versions are larger and better organized.
In the Bay Area, shopping at the farmer’s market is a relaxed experience. The atmosphere is convivial, even carnivalesque with free tasting at almost every shop, live music by some local musicians and even a clown is typically present to entertain the kids. The food ranges from fresh organic and non-organic produce such as vegetables and fruits to fresh fish, free range chicken eggs, meat of free range cattle, from baked goods to stalls selling fresh cooked food and even cosmetics such as mositurizers made from bee’s wax and real flowers, hand made soap etc. The market is quite large and makes for a good stroll. Forget all that in Kauai.
Given that the resident population in Kauai is about 60,000, the farmer’s market is quite small compared to the California equivalent. They’re open typically in the afternoon and last about two hours. The wares are almost exclusively fresh produce of vegetables and fruit with a slightly hefty tilt towards fruits. For mainlanders who have not been to exotic places such as Tahiti or SE Asia, the fruits are almost all excitingly new. The colors, the shapes and even the names seem to conjure up the romantic, the exotic. Longan, Rambutan, Mangosteen, Durian, Noni and Jackfruit sell alongside incredibly sweet pineapples, coconut water, bananas and tangerines. Even the bananas are flavored differently and go by the name of Apple Bananas. The produce is mostly non-organic except for the one at Kilauea.
Now for the strange customs. At some markets, the entry to the market is barred until the specified opening time. A rather large crowd mills around, with the gathering beginning anywhere from 15-20 minutes before the doors open. Once the doors open, everybody rushes in, trying to purchase very quickly before the wares vanish. Come twenty minutes late and most of the excellent quality exotic fruit is gone. Come an hour late and be prepared to find nothing. There’s little tasting before the purchase. While they do supply plastic bags (which seem to be recycled many times), the regulars come with their own. At some of the other markets, you can browse around before the specified hour, but no money can exchange hands. However, it is acceptable for you to decide what you want and have the vendor set aside the produce with your name on it. At the specified hour, there is either a loud yell “OK” or a car honks and money starts exchanging hands rather rapidly. So in these places, stuff can go even sooner since people have been buying before the specified hour. So, it’s always wiki hour (wiki means fast in Hawaiian) at the farmer’s market.
We’ve been feasting on the exotic fruits. Some such as Longan and Mangosteen were new to even us. We also got fresh coconut water with the shell being split after the drink is finished to feast on the delicious coconut meat. It brought back such happy memories, of growing up in India.
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