We have visited a number of fascinating markets since arriving because understanding the agricultural marketing system is an important facet of our research. The little roadside stands are lots of fun because many of them are managed by the farmers themselves. But, the big bazaar in Almaty is amazing. We spent most of an afternoon there last week and I hope to get back again today. It is a feast for the senses and fascinating to explore. One of the first observations I could see was that it was organized exactly the opposite of American markets. It says so much about the way we manage our food and the way we live. Our shops are masses of highly processed food with a little strip of fresh-whole food around the that comes from industrial farms.
The markets here in Kazakhstan are exactly the opposite. They are giant masses of fresh-whole foods in the center with a little strip of processed food (candy, flour, coffee, cookies, boxed cereal) around the edges. The produce is simply gorgeous. I have seen at least 100 different kinds of fresh tomatoes, giant piles of fresh herbs, many varieties of cucumbers, apples etc. They all look home grown and the varieties are bred for flavor and cooking not for shipping as ours tend to be.
There are a lot of different ethnic groups here because this land seems to have been a serious cross road for centuries. The different groups appear to remain distinct, but nobody takes themselves too seriously and they all seem to get along including Muslims and Christians. The market is the same, with different ethnic groups taking control of different markets and it all works pretty well. The majority of the produce was sold by Kazakh women, although there were some Russians as well. The horse meat, lamb and poultry was sold by Kazakh women. Pork was sold by Russian woman only. Dried fruit and nuts were sold by Uzbek men. Finally, there is a rather large group of Korean here who were displaced during WWII. They have a big section of the market where they have a deli with hundreds of Korean salads, Kimchee and special spices.
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