News

In St Croix, Celebrating “Local”

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - February 16, 2014

Above: produce at the St. Croix Agriculture and Food Fair (All photos by CJ)

By Alexander Britell

ST CROIX — “Easy now. It’s hot.”

That’s the warning from Velma Cruz, who’s been bringing her hot sauce to St Croix’s Agriculture and Food Fair, or AgriFest, for five years.

Cruz, here marketing her eponymous sauces, is one of scores of vendors who have brought their locally made products to the Estate Lower Love in St Croix, the site of one of the largest agricultural fairs in the Caribbean.

The fair has been held annually for 43 years; over the past four decades, a festival once aimed simply at promoting agriculture now celebrates far more: local food, local culture, local crafts and local life on the southernmost of the United States Virgin Islands.

“The beauty about it is that people from all the islands participate right here,” Cruz says. “It’s a big event. What people like about it is everything is local.”

Above: Velma Cruz

The fair has also been a boon for vendors like Anil Bruce, who, with his wife Karen, has created a hand-painted t-shirt business targeted for the event.

True to the theme of the fair, it’s called “Ba’n Ya,” colloquial for “born here.”

“Our first year at the fair was eight or nine years ago, and we’ve continued doing this at local events,” Bruce says. “It’s one of the biggest, if not the biggest agricultural fair in the Caribbean — and it’s great, it’s celebrating agriculture, celebrating the way it used to be, and also innovation and creativity.”

Above: Karen and Anil Bruce of Ba’n Ya

More and more storefronts have popped up in recent years, from book shops to yoga sheds (and local music groups have also joined in) but agriculture remains the essence of the fair.

Above: watch this brief video to get a closer look at the fair thanks to the music of St Croix’s Ebenezer Methodist Steel Orchestra

The fair even features livestock and other animals and a large barn dedicated to locally-grown fruits and vegetables like those of Sejah Farm.

Above: Yvette Brown of Sejah Farm

Yvette Brown has been regularly taking part in the fair, trying to do her part to promote a sector that is still nascent on St Croix and the Virgin Islands, as is the case in much of the region.

Sejah Farm specializes in locally-grown produce — green bananas, carambolas, golden apples and tamarind dot the three booths at the barn.

“Everything you see here is locally grown within the Virgin Islands,” says Brown, who operates a produce market six days a week on the island.

Above: inside the food court at AgriFest

The bright greens, yellows and reds all scream of the potential for the sector on St Croix, where agriculture is “still in the developmental stage,” USV Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen, Jr tells Caribbean Journal.

“Our goal is to increase awareness — our goal is to showcase the potential of agriculture and our culture,” he says. “It’s about encouraging more production, encouraging more marketing and increasing awareness.”

AgriFest has become a magnet event for the USVI and the wider region. Indeed, this weekend has seen vendors not just from St Croix, but islands like Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia and Dominica.

“it’s going extremely well — attendance is up,” Petersen says of the fair, which attracts around 20,000 people each year. “The vendors are enthusiastic.”

Of course, Agriculture still has room to grow in St Croix, as in much of the Caribbean, a region that is home to a burgeoning movement to promote both local farming and food security, which obviously go hand in hand.

“We’re putting in our portion to make a difference [with agriculture],” Brown says. “This fair is more about showing what we can do. And when the community comes in and sees what we can do on the island, they get that eyes-on view of what is possible in the Virgin Islands.”

Popular Posts w punta cana

A New All-Inclusive W Hotel Is Opening This Year in Punta Cana 

The first-ever all-inclusive W Hotel in the Caribbean is opening this year in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Caribbean Journal has learned.  The hotel, part of a broad expansion for parent company Marriott International, is on the list of expected 2024 […]


Why Grenada Is a New Caribbean Luxury Hotspot

beach house silversands

From its world-renowned chocolate to its pristine beaches to a region-leading focus on sustainability, Grenada is as fascinating and unique as destination as you’ll find in the Caribbean.  But in the last few years, the lush Eastern Caribberan island has […]


5 Adults-Only Resorts to Visit Right Now in the Caribbean 

galley bay

Sometimes you just want that extra degree of serenity, of privacy, of seclusion. There is a reason, after all, that adults-only resorts are booming in popularity, particularly in the Caribbean: travelers want to know that when they arrive, they know […]


Related Posts nobu los cabos

Frontier Is Adding a New Nonstop Flight to Los Cabos 

It’s one of the most popular hotel destinations in Mexico: Los Cabos, which has seen a broad boom in recent years with the entry to market of brands like Nobu, Thompson, Marriott and Waldorf Astoria, among others.  That has led, […]


This Former Caribbean Rockefeller Resort Is for Sale

caribbean rockefeller resort

In 1986, Laurance Rockefeller, the founder of Rock Resorts, developed 27 acres of prime beachfront land into what was for decades one of the sought after places to stay in the Caribbean. Now, the four-star, 150-room resort is for sale, […]


Vote for the 2024 Caribbean Green Awards, from Green Energy to Sustainable Hotels

caribbean green

Hotels serving organic food grown by local farmers. Airports powered by large solar fields. Pristine coastlines protected by marine parks. Real estate developments fueled by clean energy. It’s an exciting time for the Green movement in the Caribbean, a region […]


SUBSCRIBE!

Sign up for Caribbean Journal's free newsletter for a daily dose of beaches, hotels, rum and the best Caribbean travel information on the net.


No. Thank You