Article by Theresa Storm.
Like all trends, many hospitality businesses have jumped on the farm-to-fork marketing bandwagon, promoting they source organic locally-grown foods, some even growing and raising culinary ingredients themselves.
But a few are using the boon to elevate interest in food-focused wellness by creating experiential learning activities. Think guided market or farm tours, cooking classes or food workshops led by farmers, chefs or restauranteurs, before sinking your teeth into fresh, tasty, local goodness. It’s farm-to-table with a twist!
Ready to eat? Here are three Caribbean farm-to-table experiences that visitors can participate in, raising farm-to-fork:
ST. KITTS – Liamuiga Natural Farm
Perched high on St. Kitts’ Phillips Mountain, Liamuiga Natural Farm invites visitors to experience the island’s only coffee estate — where volcanic soil, sustainable farming, and Caribbean traditions blend into an unforgettable farm-to-cup journey. Photo courtesy of Liamuiga Natural Farms.
Liamuiga, the indigenous Kalinago’s name for St. Kitts, means fertile land. And fertile the volcanic soil of Liamuiga Natural Farm (LNF) certainly is. At the isle’s only coffee farm, perched at 1,542 feet on Phillips Mountain, your guided experience begins with farm-to-table hors d’oeuvres or breakfast. Then climb aboard an open-air ex-military truck to be transported into a tranquil world of sustainability.
With Junior behind the wheel and Tiem, the tour’s recorded voice, you’ll venture deep into the rainforest where Arabica coffee shrubs thrive in the clean mountain air, as well as coconut and citrus trees (oranges, limes and sour orange), breadfruit, plantains, bananas, figs, soursop, passionfruit, guava, sweet potatoes, turmeric and more.
You’ll get a look at how coffee is grown, cared for and harvested. You’ll walk through coffee fields, taste coffee cherries from the branch, see beans drying in the sun, and learn about the plants, the seasons and the steps before the beans reach your cup. You’ll also learn about traditional Caribbean farming and the use of herbs.
The tour is woven with Kittitian proverbs, Caribbean music and family stories. No wonder LNF was named to National Geographic’s Best of the World List 2024 as a cultural hotspot, places that immerse you in traditions, communities and history.
If farming activities are underway, the Kellys and the Mikes, the two families that own the farm, encourage guests to participate in hands-on harvesting of produce or coffee, while gaining insights into sustainable farming practices.
Tour guests have the option of a seasonal farm-to-table breakfast or three-course lunch, or both, including LNF’s signature coffee, of course. If a day isn’t enough, stay overnight in LNF’s private cabin high in the hills and wake up to birdsong and the scent of truly fresh coffee.
GUYANA: The Backyard Café
Chef Delven Adams brings his passion for food and farming to life at the Backyard Café, serving refined organic Guyanese cuisine in a cozy garden setting.
Upon returning to Guyana after living in the United States, Chef Delven Adams’ love for food and farming inspired him to open a restaurant that serves fresh, organic and refined traditional Guyanese cuisine in the cozy garden of his childhood Georgetown home.
At the Backyard Café, his guiding belief is that local food can be as beautiful and delicious as any world cuisine. In the café’s intimate setting, you are welcomed to taste dishes like fried red snapper with metemgee (a hearty coconut-milk stew of dumplings and ground provisions — underground vegetables like yams, sweet potatoes, dasheen/taro and cassava, as well as other starchy staples like green bananas, plantains and breadfruit), cassava bread, cook-up rice (a one pot dish of peas, meat, rice, coconut milk and aromatics), fried channa (chickpeas), and other staples that highlight the country’s cultural diversity.
Wash it down with a rum punch and end it with a hot cassava pone, a Guyanese sweet treat made with grated coconut, grated cassava and warm spices. Other favorite desserts are pine (pineapple) tarts, coconut buns, Guyanese cheese rolls, fruitcake and salara (a coconut stuffed sweet bread).
To turn your dining experience into an unforgettable immersion, take a cooking class with Chef Delven and learn to prepare a traditional Guyanese meal like pepperpot (a rich meat stew). Or join the chef on his “home to home” tour of the bustling Bourda Market where he sources his fresh ingredients. On this fun, informational and passionate tour, you’ll meet all kinds of people in the food industry as you shop for fresh meat or seafood, farm-to-table vegetables, herbs and spices — whatever chef has planned for his menu. These curated experiences rekindle roots, create connections and make lasting memories.
By reservation only, book 48 hours in advance on WhatsApp: 592-654-5339.
NICARAGUA: Finca Mystica
Nestled at the foot of Nicaragua’s Maderas Volcano, Finca Mystica offers a serene escape where farm-to-table dining, sustainable living, and holistic wellness unite amid the lush beauty of Ometepe Island.
On the volcanic island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua, the largest freshwater lake in Central America, Finca Mystica, nestled in the foothills of the Maderas Volcano, invites travellers to experience sustainable tourism through its farm-to-table concept.
In 2006, Coloradans Angela and Ryan Cassidy bought 10 hectares of raw jungle land in Nicaragua, a bit off the beaten path, and through hard labour made it what it is today. While some of the island has developed a lot since then, on their website Ryan says the Finca’s location is “still very traditional, rootsy and cultural, with the best neighbors around”.
Meals are prepared with “some of the freshest foods you have ever eaten,” grown on-site in its fruit, vegetable and herb gardens or sourced from local island farmers — ensuring freshness, flavour and a direct connection to the land. Visitors are encouraged to explore the property to discover scores of new fruits, trees and flowers, identified with signs. You can also get a taste of the isle’s bounty at the weekend farmer’s markets.
Even better, learn how to roast your own organic coffee or make chocolate from raw cacao beans in Interactive workshops offered on the finca’s land. In them, you’ll learn about organic cacao, artisanal coffee, harvesting crops and sustainable and responsible farming techniques.
In addition to mindful eating experiences, Finca Mystica is a holistic wellness retreat where body and soul find harmony. With its deep commitment to nature, sustainability and conscious living, Finca Mystica is where wellness, nourishment and connection to the environment come together. Guests are welcome to utilize the large onsite pavilion or garden rock circle for yoga, circuit training and meditation, and massages can be arranged. Or observe wildlife and soak up nature on the finca’s private 1.6-kilometre nature trail into a wildlife preserve.
Article and photography Theresa Storm.
A four-month-long solo island-hopping adventure through the Caribbean 28 years ago ignited Theresa’s passion for the tropics, culture, nature and trying new adventures.
Back home in Calgary, her increasingly restless, itchy feet soon led to a career writing about travel worldwide. She loves escaping winter for warmer climes, especially to the Caribbean, which has long felt like her real home.
As an award-winning travel writer and photographer, she’s penned scores of articles for magazines, newspapers and e-zines, and contributed to books including Caribbean Escapes and the first edition of DK Eyewitness Caribbean.
Her articles and photographs have been published in magazines including Bon Vivant, Extraordinary Experiences and Vacations (Ensemble Travel Group), Wanderlust (U.K.), Avenue Calgary, WestJet (WestJet Airline’s in-flight), Morning Calm (Korean Air’s in-flight), LUXE Magazine Canada, AAA publications, Cruise & Travel Lifestyles, Dreamscapes and Today’s Parent.
She is a two-time winner of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Canadian Travel Writer of the Year award and twice won CTO’s best photograph with a feature article and best online feature. She also was honoured with the Travel Media Association of Canada’s excellence in Caribbean travel writing award.
