Finding "Real" Food In Peru - Join Me In My Journey Through A Country Where Food Is Not Yet Commoditized

I found real food in Peru. What do I mean when I say real food? I mean food that people are still connected to, on an emotional, ecological, spiritual and physical level.

Our travel companion "Tubs" guarding our lunch - veggie kabobs from the garden with a cilantro dressing, sweet potatos with a cinnamon apple sauce, and chica / fermented corn drink - $3.50

The appetizer before soup - dried corn kernels, look at all of that variety!

I traveled through Peru for three weeks, and spent time in Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley, Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Tacna. Within my major of International Studies I focus on world food systems, and I was completely blown away by what I found in Peru. Peru was the first country I had ever been to with such a large indigenous population still practicing their traditional agricultural methods. It was refreshing to be in a country where it is not abnormal to still be connected to the land and understand where food comes from.

Salinas de Mara - salt mines where locals have sourced their salt since pre-Incan times

Lima beans with a green leafy vegetable and green onion medley - $0.50

One of the biggest surprises for me surrounding food was that healthy organic food is not only for the upper class. In many “developed” countries, healthy food is privileged to a small group who can afford it. Organic food has become trendy for the rich, and sells for a high price partially because of this. In Peru, the unhealthiest food that I found was in restaurants catered to tourists, while the healthiest food was in the small eateries or on the street. A typical menu for 6 soles was a big vegetable soup, followed by fish and rice and salad, finished with a mate. This food in Peru is for the common people. It is not yet commoditized by big businesses. The indigenous people of Peru have and are still fighting for food sovereignty and for a continuation of their traditional agricultural practices.

The quinoa fields of Ollantaytambo

Rice, eggs, a veggie salad, and tarwi beans (apparently the new upcoming superfood which has of course been a staple in the Peruvian diet for centuries - $2)

Further, agribusinesses have not completely infiltrated the country’s agricultural system. This means that the food I was getting was grown in Peru, most likely very close by, and was organic. Peru is not dependent on the U.S. for cheap GMO corn or grains. Rather, they have a huge variety of grains, most of which I had never heard of. Further, many of the trending “superfoods” in the U.S. are originally from Peru. Maca, chia, lacuma, cacao, yacon, quinoa, these foods were all in common-day drinks and meals. It is interesting to note that the spike in popularity of quinoa in the U.S. has increased world prices in Peru such that some people can no longer afford the daily grain. When I asked Peruvians about their local food system, they were all extremely proud of how strong it was. Every single person that I talked to also mentioned how horrible agriculture is in the U.S. with GMOs and synthetic fertilizers. There was an awareness and a pride about their food that I had never seen before.

The market in Pisac

Lunch at the market in Pisac - fried stuffed bell pepper, veggie salad with lima beans, potatos, and a heavenly cilantro dressing - $2

A large strawberry kombucha. For any Steemit kombucha drinkers out there, you know that this much would usually sell for $8. Price in Pisac $0.75

When I went to Lake Titicaca, I spent a night on Isla Amantani with a local family. Isla Amantani has a population of mostly indigenous people that are originally Quechua speakers. Arriving to the island on boat, I could see that the whole island was composed of homes and terraced fields. Our host family cooked us a delicious lunch of potatoes, carrots, rice, corn, and cheese along with muna tea. I asked them about their relationship to food and found out that the husband was a farmer while the wife did all of the cooking. I learned that the most important day on the island is January 14th, because it is their annual agricultural festival. This ritual involves gifts to the earth and prayers of a good harvest to come. We then walked up to the top of the island to visit the two hill tops of Pachamama and Pachatata, which contain old Incan and Tiwanaku ruins. Having two mountain tops named “mother earth” and “father earth” shows the belief of complementarity that the people of Isla Amantani still hold.

The fields of Lake Amantani

A man from the reed floating islands demonstrating how they cook their fish

Me eating reed that is also used to make the floating island pictured above

In Cuzco I stumbled upon a traditional medicine museum. The owner is a medicine woman who has vast knowledge about Peru’s plants. She said that her intent of the museum is to connect people back with the spirit of the plants. She said that each plant has its own spirit that can communicate with us and heal us if we allow it. With the hope to one day have my own permaculture/traditional medicine/healing center, this museum and the rest of Peru was extremely inspiring. Culture and food are so connected, that to lose on is to lose another. Many countries have experienced a loss in their traditional food system due to globalization, and therefore have lost a huge part of their culture. Peru has not. Further, the indigenous people of Peru continue agricultural practices that are pre-Columbian, which reinforces their continuance of a pre-Columbian worldview.

The juice bars in Pisac - popular with the school kids

My first juice - pinneapple, ginger, peach, carrot, maca, and dried coconut - $2

This past February I participated in a festival called Tribal Gathering that brought together over thirty different indigenous tribes from around the world in order to have a cultural exchange. In this festival many tribes shared their traditional agricultural knowledge and pre-Columbian worldviews. I felt the same sentiment in this festival as I felt in Peru, and one article about the festival eloquently describes it: “"There are still many places in the world that have not been tread upon by human industry and continue to practice ancient traditions. There are still places where people look to the plants for their medicine, the soil for their food, and the jungle for their enlightenment. There are still places to learn, grow, move, ruminate, and listen while surrounded by the divinity of nature…The volunteers at GeoParadise are striving to perpetuate the traditions of these global tribal communities who are slowly disappearing in the shadow of human industry. By looking into the past, we are securing not only the futures of these communities, but also the future of our world. It is crucial to keep their rituals and knowledge alive for it is important to remain grounded and rooted to the customs of our ancestors. Together we can preserve and regenerate this world and all of the cultures within it. The more we learn about the past, the more rich our present becomes." source

The fields of Isla Amantani - corn and quinoa

Overlooking the terraces of Isla Amantani