There are many fresh produce stalls on street corners and a lot of fresh-cut products in stores. The New York we saw last week made us understand just how modest the level of distribution is in a district among the richest in the world, where the rent for a 100 sq. m. flat is $250 thousand a year. We do not mean modest from the point of view of quantity, but rather from the point of view of quality and organisation.
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It is rather funny to see all these stalls, as everything comes to mind except high technology, professionalism and hygiene. Yes, even hygiene, because the city is very polluted and chaotic and it is difficult to believe that fruit and vegetables will not be covered in dust and smog by evening...
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Everything in Manhattan is expensive, just like in any European tourist city. We saw three peaches sold at $2, two plums for $1, three pears for $2, or $1 for a single pear. A the current exchange rate, it would be like buying a single pear for €0.90!
Often stalls are parked near hot dog carts, so an awful burned fat smell is always around. During the night, they are parked in garages in side streets... we dread to think how much the rent is.
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We have also visited a few stores. They were not dedicated to fruit and vegetables but had a wide selection. Prices were still rather high, but we must stress that Manhattan is one of the busiest and most exclusive places on earth. In the hotel, we were told the penthouse of the most recent skyscraper was sold for $600 million, probably more than $1 million per square metre.
We asked about the origin of the produce on display, but the answers were rather vague. In such a cosmopolitan city, origin does not seem to be important. Quite the opposite, actually, as a Chilean would be happy to see produce from his country, just like an Italian would be to see apples from Trentino.
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There were a few bits of information about origin in stores (kiwis came from Chile), but stalls provided no information.
