Photos
Rise and shine! Day five starts at the second largest market in Bogota: Plaza de Mercado Paloquemao. A wet market, the Mercado Paloquemao specializes in fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, pastries, flowers and more.
Sunrise over the city. The market is a major supplier for restaurants and commercial vendors in the city.
Thin crowd. Due to the religious holiday of Epiphany celebrated by the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Bogota, the market was uncharacteristically quiet in the early hours.
Dragon fruit. Tour guide and Bogota local, Maria, gave a comprehensive tour of the local and regional vendors and foods available at the market and explained how to eat and prepare them. Here she is discussing and distributing dragon fruit.
Logan Sheets samples a piece of fruit at the wet market.
Mangosteen are served up fresh to LEAD fellows. Sampling fruits and pastries was a large part of the morning. Pictured: Cole Lewandowski
The art of presentation was on display throughout the wet market.
Many of the vendors have had stalls for years at the market and prepare fantastic foods onsite. Vendors take great pride in presenting their space and providing the best product possible. This stall served a perfectly brewed fresh ground cup of coffee to many LEAD fellows.
All the meats! Fresh meat is a common element at the market. Delivered early in the morning, butchers go to work on whole sides of beef, expertly carving everything from chuck roast to oxtails.
Sides of beef hang waiting for the butcher. Across Colombia there is a significant effort to market US beef. Colombian consumers often prefer US beef due to the tenderness and flavor. During presentations by the US Meat Export Federation later in the day, LEAD 40 learned about these efforts and how the US is providing a safe, tasty product to Colombians
A butcher fabricates beef pieces in a vendor stall.
Pork is another significant protein in Colombia. Pork products of all shapes and sizes hang in the stalls throughout Plaza de Mercado Paloquemao. While the Colombian’s import a significant amount of pork from the US, their domestic supply is growing rapidly.
Cut flowers are a major ag product for Colombia both domestically and as an export.
Vendors from all over the country supply fresh cut flowers to the market.
The smell of fresh cut flowers in the market is incredible!
After a few hard days of early morning travel and presentations, LEAD fellows are happy to have a secure and comfortable hotel to rest for even a few hours. Pictured is the view across Bogota from one of the upper floors.
While fellows aren’t necessarily eating at McDonalds it is fun to explore the differences in familiar menus!
LEAD 40 spent most of the day in meetings following the wet-market tour. Hearing presentations from diplomatic and commodity officials related to efforts to market US products in Colombia and across Latin America. Here, Rachel Prosser, thanks Abigail Mackey of the USDA Foreign Ag Service for her time with LEAD discussion negotiations and future opportunities for US producers in Colombia.
Curtis Welsh with Miguel Galdos – Dir US Wheat Associates – South America
Stephanie Nelson thanks Don Mason of the US Meat Export Federation for his time presenting the great work USMEF is doing across the world and especially in Latin America.
Cole Lewandowski shares a warm appreciation with Mauricio Cote, PhD – Climate Change Advisor working to establish climate-specific best practices standards across Colombia for corn and livestock production.