Getting Food in the Bahamas By Troy O'Dell While talking with my friend from the Bahamas, I picked up on a few interesting points concerning the cultivating and obtaining of various food items. These include what is grown natively, what has to be purchased, and lastly how these products are distributed throughout the community. First she began with the items that are grown in the Bahamas for both consumption and selling. Bahamian horticulture includes green bananas and onions, mushrooms, lettuce, cabbage, lemons and limes as well as coconuts. All are grown throughout the Bahamas. Many of these are brought to market to be traded or sold to get other needed items. Next, aside from the products produced and grown there and other domesticated animals like chickens, pigs, and cows, most of the other food necessities must be purchased at the different markets and stores. Canned foods along with other "traditional American" food items can be bought at small food stores, but these are certainly nothing like a Publix or Winn Dixie. The distribution of food is an interesting mix of both privately owned small "grocery" stores and a marketplace with several different open markets to buy and sell products. Some of the various markets include fish, vegetable, fruit, bread, meat, and even a live chicken market. This marketplace was centrally located and often visited frequently during the week by mostly women and children.