Shopping for Fresh Produce

In Kitale do have three large supermarkets where we do the bulk of our grocery shopping. However, we have discovered that we much prefer to buy our fruits and vegetables at the municipal market. We find the produce is much fresher and cheaper than in the larger stores. Plus, we would rather support small vendors rather than large corporations.

Most Kenyans don't shop at supermarkets. Instead villages have a market day at least one day a week. Vendors come in from the surrounding areas bringing their items for sale. This photo shows them getting ready to set up for the day's business. Notice the bags in the front of the picture. Inside are the items that will soon be displayed for sale. You will see some deliveries being made by lory (truck), donkey or even bicycle.

Some people set up kiosks along the side of a busy road. In these you see seasonal fruits and vegetables for sale. Often you can also buy gum, time for your phones, sugar cane, eggs or even loaves of bread.

These last two pictures show vendors at our local municipal market. Because Kitale is a large town, they are open seven days a week. Friday is the day farmers deliver items to the market, so Friday and Saturday are the best days to go shopping.

Tomatoes and onions are weekly purchases. We can buy a kilo of each for less than a dollar. The fresh pineapple costs a little more than a dollar for two kilos. Bananas are about 50 cents for a kilo. You can see that we have a wide variety of produce to choose from.