If you're travelling through Panama and want to eat well, there is one piece of advice that can completely change the way you shop: don't just look for a supermarket. Look for where the vegetables are actually coming from.
Panama is an incredibly productive agricultural country, and one of the best things about travelling here is that fresh produce doesn't have to be a luxury. In the mountains, markets, roadside stalls, small vegetable shops and local produce stands can be fantastic places to find vegetables that have travelled a few kilometres rather than sitting in a warehouse for weeks.
And there is something wonderfully satisfying about walking into a Panamanian market and seeing piles of produce everywhere. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, squash, yuca, ñame, otoe, plantains, bananas and an enormous variety of tropical fruits can turn up depending on the region and season.
For a backpacker, this can also be one of the cheapest ways to eat well.
Start with the local markets
If you're looking for genuinely fresh vegetables, local markets should be one of your first stops.
Markets are particularly useful because you're often buying directly from vendors who specialize in fresh produce. The selection changes with the season, which is actually a good thing. Instead of expecting exactly the same vegetables every week, you start eating according to what's available.
In mountain areas such as Chiriquí, produce markets can be particularly rewarding because the region is one of Panama's major agricultural areas.
You may see enormous piles of vegetables that were grown relatively close to where you're standing.
And this is where travelling becomes much more interesting than simply walking into a supermarket.
You can ask:
"¿De dónde son?"
Where are they from?
You might discover that the vegetables came from a nearby farm or another part of the highlands.
The Chiriquí advantage
If you're travelling through western Panama, particularly around Boquete, David and the surrounding highlands, you're in one of the country's most important agricultural regions.
The climate and elevation create excellent conditions for growing many vegetables.
That means travellers staying in this part of Panama can often find an impressive selection of fresh produce.
Boquete is particularly famous for its agricultural production and highland climate.
If you're staying somewhere with a kitchen, this can be an excellent place to buy ingredients and make your own meals.
And if you're staying in a hostel, don't underestimate the value of asking the staff where they personally buy vegetables.
They've probably already done the research for you.
Roadside produce stands
One of the most underrated ways to buy fresh vegetables in Panama is simply to watch the side of the road.
You'll often encounter small roadside stands selling agricultural products.
Sometimes they're little wooden structures.
Sometimes they're simply tables underneath a roof.
Sometimes the selection is tiny.
And sometimes you suddenly find yourself staring at a mountain of vegetables wondering how you're going to carry everything back to the hostel.
These stands can be fantastic because the produce may come directly from nearby farms.
The selection is often highly seasonal.
And prices can be excellent.
Don't expect every roadside stand to have a giant selection. That's not the point.
You might find tomatoes at one.
Plantains at another.
Avocados somewhere else.
And perhaps an enormous pile of something you've never seen before at the next one.
That's part of the fun.
Supermarkets are still useful
Of course, supermarkets have their place.
If you're looking for convenience, they're hard to beat.
You can get vegetables, fruit, rice, beans, pasta, tofu, canned goods, sauces and everything else you need in one trip.
Larger supermarkets also tend to have more predictable opening hours and a broader selection of imported products.
But if your priority is freshness, don't automatically assume the supermarket is your best option.
Use supermarkets for convenience.
Use markets and produce stands for discovery.
Ideally, use both.
Learn the names of Panama's vegetables
One of the best things you can do as a traveller is learn a few Spanish names.
You don't need to become fluent.
Just knowing the names of common vegetables makes shopping much easier.
Tomate is tomato.
Cebolla is onion.
Pepino is cucumber.
Zanahoria is carrot.
Repollo is cabbage.
Lechuga is lettuce.
Pimentón or ají dulce can refer to sweet peppers depending on the local usage.
Yuca is cassava.
Ñame is a type of yam.
Otoe is another starchy root vegetable.
Zapallo can refer to squash or pumpkin varieties.
And then there are the plantains.
Plátano.
A word every traveller should know.
Because once you start buying vegetables in Panama, you're going to encounter them everywhere.
Don't ignore the weird looking stuff
This is one of the best rules for shopping in a foreign country.
If you don't recognize something, ask.
Don't walk past a strange root vegetable because you have no idea what it is.
Ask the vendor.
"¿Qué es?"
What is it?
Then ask:
"¿Cómo se cocina?"
How do you cook it?
You might discover an ingredient that becomes one of your favourite foods.
Panamanian markets are full of things that may look completely unfamiliar to visitors.
That's not a problem.
That's an opportunity.
Fruit stands are your friend
Technically, we're talking about vegetables here.
But it would be criminal to discuss fresh produce in Panama without mentioning fruit.
Depending on the season and region, you can find bananas, pineapple, papaya, watermelon, passion fruit, mangoes, oranges, mandarins, guanábana and many other tropical fruits.
And some of these taste completely different when they're properly ripe.
A pineapple that has travelled thousands of kilometres isn't the same experience as one that's been grown in a tropical climate and sold locally.
The same applies to mangoes and other tropical fruit.
If you're backpacking, fruit is also one of the easiest ways to improve your diet without spending a fortune.
Grab some bananas.
Buy a pineapple.
Get some papaya.
Suddenly your hostel kitchen looks like a tropical fruit market.
Ask locals where they shop
This may be the single best piece of advice.
Don't ask:
"Where is the best supermarket?"
Ask:
"¿Dónde compran verduras frescas?"
Where do you buy fresh vegetables?
That's a completely different question.
You're no longer asking where tourists shop.
You're asking where people who live there shop.
Ask your hostel receptionist.
Ask the person working at a café.
Ask your taxi driver.
Ask someone working at a small restaurant.
People often know exactly where the good produce is.
And you may end up somewhere you would never have found on Google.
Farmers' markets
Farmers' markets can be particularly good when they're operating in the area you're visiting.
These markets can bring together local growers and small food producers, making them a great place to find fresh vegetables, fruit and other local products.
They're also much more enjoyable than wandering around a supermarket aisle.
You can see what's in season.
You can talk to vendors.
You can discover unfamiliar foods.
And you get a glimpse into the agricultural side of Panama that most tourists never see.
Timing matters
If you want the best selection at a market, go early.
This is one of those universal market rules that exists in countries all over the world.
The early shoppers get first choice.
Later in the day, the most popular items may already be gone.
And if you're shopping at a small roadside stand, the selection may change dramatically from day to day.
Don't expect the same inventory every time.
That's actually one of the reasons markets are interesting.
Buy what's in season
Trying to eat exactly the same vegetables year-round is one of the easiest ways to make grocery shopping unnecessarily difficult.
Instead, embrace seasonality.
If something looks fantastic and is everywhere, buy it.
If something looks mediocre and expensive, choose something else.
The best produce often isn't the produce you planned to buy.
It's the produce that happens to be excellent that week.
This is particularly useful for travellers staying in Panama for several weeks or months.
Instead of asking, "What vegetables do I normally eat?"
Ask:
"What's good right now?"
That's a much more enjoyable way to cook.
Hostel kitchens can become produce laboratories
If you're backpacking around Panama and staying in hostels with kitchens, fresh produce can completely change your food budget.
Instead of eating in restaurants three times a day, buy vegetables, fruit, rice, beans, pasta and other basics and make your own meals.
You can prepare enormous salads.
Vegetable stir fries.
Rice bowls.
Pasta.
Soups.
Tacos.
Curries.
Roasted vegetables.
Breakfast vegetables with eggs.
Or simply chop up whatever you found at the market and figure it out later.
The last option is often the most fun.
Buy small amounts more frequently
Here's another backpacker trick.
Don't buy vegetables as if you're feeding a family of twelve.
If you're travelling with a backpack and moving every few days, a giant grocery haul can become ridiculous.
Buy enough for a few meals.
Then shop again.
This keeps your produce fresher and means you're not carrying three kilos of vegetables onto a bus.
Yes, people have absolutely tried this.
No, it isn't particularly elegant.
The Panama backpacker produce challenge
Here's a fun way to make grocery shopping more interesting.
Every time you visit a new region, buy one vegetable or fruit you've never eaten before.
Ask the vendor how to prepare it.
Then cook it.
You might discover something amazing.
You might discover something you absolutely hate.
Either way, you've learned something.
And after a few weeks, you'll know considerably more about Panamanian produce than you did when you arrived.
Don't judge freshness entirely by appearance
Tropical produce can look different from what you're accustomed to seeing in supermarkets back home.
Don't expect every tomato to be perfectly round.
Don't expect every carrot to be identical.
Don't expect every cucumber to have the same shape.
Local produce can be imperfect.
That's fine.
What matters is whether it's fresh and appropriate for what you're planning to cook.
Ask the vendor what they're recommending.
They'll often know which items are ready to eat and which ones need a couple of days.
Watch out for bruising
When choosing produce, look for obvious signs of damage, mold or spoilage.
Soft spots aren't always a disaster, especially with fruit that you're going to eat immediately, but you don't want to buy something that's already breaking down.
For leafy vegetables, look for crispness.
For tomatoes and peppers, look for firmness appropriate to ripeness.
For roots such as yuca and ñame, choose pieces that look firm and healthy.
And remember that heat accelerates everything.
Once you buy fresh produce in Panama, don't leave it roasting inside your backpack for six hours.
Your vegetables have suffered enough.
The refrigerator isn't always the answer
Some fruits and vegetables actually keep better outside the refrigerator until they're ripe.
Others benefit from refrigeration.
If you're unsure, ask the vendor.
And if you're staying in a hostel, remember that communal refrigerators can become an archaeological site.
Label your food.
Seriously.
You don't want to return from a hike to discover that your carefully selected avocado has mysteriously become somebody else's lunch.
Panama's agricultural heartland
One of the fascinating things about shopping for vegetables in Panama is realizing how much agriculture exists beyond the tourist image of the country.
Visitors see beaches.
They see islands.
They see skyscrapers.
They see the canal.
But there is another Panama made up of farms, greenhouses, fields, mountain agriculture and rural communities producing the food that eventually ends up on tables throughout the country.
Chiriquí is particularly important in this agricultural story.
Travelling through the highlands gives you an opportunity to see where much of Panama's produce comes from.
And once you see that landscape, buying local vegetables feels a little different.
You're no longer simply buying groceries.
You're buying a piece of the region you're travelling through.
Why fresh vegetables are worth seeking out
Eating vegetables while travelling isn't just about being "healthy."
It's also about experiencing the destination.
Food connects you to a place.
A supermarket can give you convenience.
A local market can give you a story.
You might discover a vegetable you've never seen.
You might learn a new cooking technique.
You might have a conversation with a vendor.
You might find an ingredient that becomes your favourite thing in Panama.
And you might walk away with a bag full of produce for less money than you expected.
That's a pretty good travel experience.
The ultimate Panama produce strategy
If you're staying in Panama for a while, the perfect strategy is simple.
Use supermarkets for convenience.
Use local markets for freshness and variety.
Use roadside stands for surprises.
Ask locals where they shop.
Buy what's in season.
Learn a few Spanish vegetable names.
Buy smaller quantities more often.
Try something you've never eaten.
And most importantly, don't be afraid of the unfamiliar.
Panama's fresh produce is one of those everyday parts of the country that travellers can easily overlook because it isn't advertised as an attraction.
But maybe it should be.
Because there is something fantastic about walking through a Panamanian market early in the morning, surrounded by piles of colourful vegetables and tropical fruit, choosing ingredients for dinner while the rest of the country is waking up.
You don't need an expensive tour.
You don't need an itinerary.
You don't even need to know exactly what you're looking for.
Just find the market.
Bring a reusable bag.
Learn how to say "¿Cuánto cuesta?"
Point at something you've never seen before.
Ask how to cook it.
Buy it.
Take it back to the hostel.
And then figure out what you've just bought.
That's backpacking in Panama.