Imagine walking through an area of a few crossing sidestreets packed with stalls of merchants selling their wares in a more reserved fashioned than the shouting bazaars of Cairo or without the hustle and bustle of Thailand.  That’s not to say there aren’t customers, no, the streets are full of happy and curious people of all backgrounds looking for delicious fruits that burst in your mouth or the crispiest darkest kale that makes a salad scream ‘HEALTHY!’  Prices are fair for the products being sold and bartering is not widely accepted.  This is the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, packed in-between Hollywood and Sunset Blvds and stock full of organic goods from local Californian farmers who peddle their passion to all.  The oranges here are a reminder of how summer soccer wedges tasted during days of my youth, the melt in your mouth flesh while juice dribbles down your sweaty chin.  The organic yogurt and goat cheese rival any Mediterranean competitor.  You can smell the herbs and flowers from two stalls away.  Everything here is a foodies’ dream, ready to be bought, taken home and prepared in any number of Californian delicacies.  Let’s say it’s something I miss.

Not to say I don’t have a plethora of markets to entertain my need for street peddled goods, it just doesn’t have the same feeling.

After living in Korea and Thailand, I’ve seen more varieties of fish, curry paste, dried herbs, and fried finger foods than I thought possible.  But, as the consumerism of the west has slowly permeated the east, I’ve seen a some disappointing sights that have made me wary of buying from the local wet markets.  But it is not just reserved to the poor farmers who are doing everything to make an extra buck, it also comes from the companies and the products you buy at the local stores; from food stuffs to cleaning products, everything requires a second glance.

Korea developed and refined a wonderful system labeling organic produce on 3 different levels, and are color coded as such.  The Dark green is for “grown without chemicals or chemical fertilizer for 3 years”.  The Blue is for “grown without chemicals”.  And a tan color stands for “grown with half chemicals”.  (Gone is the light green colored label for one year of chemical and chem. fertilizer freedom.)  Now when we were in Korea, the teachers at my husband’s school warned him about the organics.  They told us how the labeling is up to the manufacturer of the product, not an independent certifier.  And after reading this article, our suspicions were confirmed.   We also remember the cleaning products we used, soaps and detergents, having distinct odors or skin reactions that come with added chemicals.  But according to articles written by USDA certifier Oregon Tilth, the Korean FDA has been involved in regulating the labelings.  Huzzah.

Now, living in Thailand, we find a similar circumstance.  In Phuket it is said that anything can be found, for a price.  So yes, there are organic peanut butters from Arrowhead Farms, but that jar costs a whopping 13 USD!  And it also might not be there next time you go back.  The disheartening thing is that many of the ‘Green’ label products are anything but.  The popular herbal toothpaste may have peppermint and eucalyptus oils but cleaning agent number one is SLS, or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate.  Here are some reasons why to dislike SLS.  I’ve even braved the small-business killer hyper-marts of Phuket (Tesco and the recently sold Carrefour now dubbed Big C) and picked up every product on the laundry detergent shelves only to see SLS as ingredient number 1.  I settled with a Japanese natural detergent found at the Central mall grocery store for 5 USD that lists Coconut Fatty acid as ingredient number 2.  Maybe SLS, so I’ll make sure to go light on the kid’s paint covered dresses. 

So, as my Italian friend Claudio would say, “What to do?” 

My suggestion, read.  Read the bottles, read up on ingredient information, like Parabens and phthalates, and also check out some home remedies.  We use ol’ fashioned baking soda for anything and everything – brushing teeth, odor removers, laundry booster, cleaner, cat box freshener… the list goes on!  Also look at the local green label products.  Italian hyper-mart COOP had a plethora of organic items along with a biodegradable laundry detergent on tap with empty bottles of different sizes for self-service filling.  The Thai Boom Green label laundry, dish, and all-purpose cleaning bottles list Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate as number 2 on the bottle.  Bad, but what are your other choices?  The bottle screams goodness all around; chlorine free natural sourced water, against animal testing, only fruits and essential oils as fragrances, and it’s Thailand’s first Green label!   Double huzzah!
And if there is something you just can’t live without, be it crystal deodorant or Bronner’s soap, there is always IHerb.com, your online store for nearly everything healthy and organic.  Their shipping rates aren’t too costly and recently here in Thailand we haven’t paid a cent on import fees.  Sadly, the Italian’s weren’t so nice.  We waited 3 months and paid twice the price for import duties and official letters proving our Organic Ketchup wasn’t medicine. 

But wait!  What about those wonderful wet open-air local markets?  Well no labels here so it’s either the greens look good or they don’t right?  Just remember, the bugs won’t eat the chemical produce.  So that guy with the gourd and kale and herbs piled high that look commercially perfect and vibrant might be doing something to get those veggies that way.  From what I’ve seen, it’s this guy that even the locals pass on.  If they still have a lot of their stock by mid-afternoon, the locals might know something you, being the foreigner, don’t.  We still hit the grocery stores for our veg, because one wrong move here in Thailand can give you a week's worth of stomach cramps and one less vacant bathroom in the house.

So good luck, happy reading, and healthy living!

Elizabeth Kelsey is the Family Travel in Asia and Europe Editor for Wandering Educators. You can read more of her work at http://www.sattvicfamily.net/

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