Camp Cabarita Eco Lodge’s sources local food: produce, dairy, eggs and meats comes directly from the local farmers either through the farmers market or our neighbors. We keep by the “farmer to table” concept not only for our own and guest’s benefit and well being, but also to support the community of which farming is most of their livelihood.
Savanna La Mar has the closest farmers market to Camp Cabarita where a collection of more than 60 vendors have vegetables such as potato, turnip, carrot, onion, cabbage, tomato, yam, and okra as well as all the tropical fruits you can name and a wide variety of herbs and spices. There are many farmers near by Camp who grow specialty items like callaloo, cinnamon trees, sour orange, guava, soursop, papaya, mango, jack fruit, and plantains. Island free range cattle is used in dishes such as oxtail stew and a neighbor in the community raises free range chickens which we purchase for jerk chicken, brown stew, and curry chicken. Our own property is young and hasn’t reached any where near it’s potential but right now we grow honey bananas, breadfruit, coconuts, mountain apples, yams, and lemongrass for tea.
| On our Property | Sourced in our Neighborhood | Grown / Made in Jamaica |
| Coconut Guava Mountain Apple Bumpy Banana Plantain Mango Breadfruit, Pepper Tomatoes Cabbage Onion, Calallo , Cucumber, Scallion | Yams Sweet Potato Irish Potato Cocoa Chicken Eggs Goat Pumpkin Sugar Cane Pineapple Ginger Tumeric Basil Cinnamon | Curry Tamarind Irish Moss Nutmeg |
Although Jamaica has 12 months of mostly consistent sunlight making it possible to grow crops year round, the terrain is extremely steep which creates problems harvesting by conventional mechanical methods and modes of transportation very difficult. Most of the food in the resorts is imported due to the ability to bulk order from sole source vendors in countries with a flat terrain which can be harvested with machines. To locally source their food would mean working with multiple suppliers from many different locations as opposed to working with a couple suppliers and ordering x amount of pineapples, bananas, coconuts, etc. on a scheduled regular basis.
For a complete listing of available fruits, vegetables, and dishes as well as specific diets and sample meal plans check out our Cuisine Page.
If you’re interested in learning more about how international finance & foreign agricultural subsidies impact Jamaican farmers, the 2001 documentary film Life and Debt based on the novel Jamaica Kincaid is informative and revealing helping to illustrate why as a visitor, your support of community agriculture is so critical.