Tonight, if you're a Belize City resident and haven't had dinner or "tea" yet, you might still be wondering if it'll be beef, chicken, or fish.
But if by now you know it'll be fish, you might want to skip this next story.
It's all about the fish market and whether what's going on there is at all up to basic sanitary standards.
I headed out there today with one of Belize's culinary masters who told me about his concerns for the cleanliness of Belize City's main fish market.
This is Conch Shell Bay - probably the busiest fish market in the country - but with tourism lagging and earnings reduced - fish sales aren't as robust as they once were, and that could be what's driving basic sanitary standards out the doors.
Enfield Jones
"When the market was first built all the stalls had pipes, the guys came at night and they took the pipe heads, so the government decided that they wouldn't put any water in the market."
"It's not sanitized, it's very bad right now, the market needs some sanitizer, they need to clean the market and I wish to tell the government to please come and try clean the market for us, because we dont have no assistance."
But some in the market believe that the conditions here need more than just basic assistance.
Fisherman
"Well, Like I said a lot of what we would consider as Sprang head or crazy people usually visit the market after hours. If you install individual pipes they will break it up and then cause a lot of problems, and then sometimes with the little drinking and the little fuss that happens out here they will break up the pipe, yes the thought is good but the idea is kinda messed up due to the type of people that are usually around the market."
And what does the fisherman across the street from the market think about his neighbors?
James
"It's a market, this is how we do it. Hanging out, drinking, playing dice, playing cards, socializing, basically."
"You have to always have clean water so we have a pipe and we always change the bucket of water to time so everything is always alright, keep our place clean, that's how we do it."
"Over there they need to get proper sanitary water and everything because over there people just I don't know nobody takes care about anything and we went a couple times to city council and thing, but nobody does anything about it and we need a bathroom out here for people, that will make it easier and better, but first and foremost, running water that's what we need out here because a bally used to sell water out here but they cut off his pipe."
And with that solitary water source gone, fish cleaners are forced to really cut corners.
Sean Kuylen, Chef
"This is how the water looks and this is because it's 10:00 in the morning. This is 10 o'clock, hmm."
Chef Sean:
"How much more time will you use this water here?"
Fish cleaner
"3 times."
Sean Kuylen:
"How many more times?"
Fish cleaner
"Three."
Sean Kuylen:
"Three more, and how much times you done use it for today?"
Fish cleaner
"Seven."
Belize's Kultcha Chef, Chef Sean says he's been monitoring this market for years this morning he told us that it's finally reached and all time low for sanitary standards:
Sean Kuylen
"There is a thing in food called the food temperature, danger zone, dangerous zone is between you know the temperature of Belize humidity, 90 degrees, hundred degrees - bacteria grows. If you don't believe don't put on deodorant on yourself tomorrow and you will start to smell stink. Then you will tell me oh it's like ice, ice no catch bacteria in Belize, but I want you to take your tray fill it with some toilet water and I want you to freeze it and drink some coolaid, tell me if you don't get bacteria. So you no come and tell me this water here that's red, come on, this is not for human consumption. What is the result and what is the solution, because everything has a solution - free up the water. You see a man who cleans fish charges a dollar a pound to clean fish, also its a dollar a pound for a bucket of water, so the man will take the same dollar he is making to clean his fish and keep that water every time he gets a job, that is profit, for his badman."
"The fisherman is doing a great job, this fish comes in fresh and everything it's not their fault when it gets here they have like middle men, they purchase the fish and sell it to us the consumers, resorts, restaurants, housewives."
So, Should you be worried?
We'll let you be the judge but here's the assessment from the man who's been controlling the pipe in the market.
"Mr. Bugg", Water-keeper
"I Install the water here, because people have no water and things and we don't want them to use the canal water."
Reporter
"Would they have used the canal water?"
"Mr. Bugg", Water-keeper
"Well I don't know, but probably I would believe, because they have no access to water out here."
Reporter:
"What's the practice with the water? How often do people buy water from you?"
"Mr. Bugg", Water-keeper
"Well, depends on the fish, when the fish are plentiful then, but when things are slow you don't send water much, the most time you would sell water is in the easter time, because its like all day you know."
But Easter is a long way off and right now the reality of the market is nothing if not cringeworthy. Our last opinion came from fisherman Kemar Nicholas, he brings fresh fish to this market but says what happens after that isn't his business.
Kemar Nicholas
"Well, Mr. Bugg doesn't have water right now, the man who runs the water. If he had water it would have been better, because the pipe isn't working. We have to bring it from far, from home, down there back there, have to get it back. It would be better too because its right here and then you dont mind paying it, because its the same thing you pay, but you have to back it."
"They bally would use like 3 or four bucket to wash people fish because that's what you eat."
"Watch how that look, you will wash about 5 fish and that looks like that, this is fresh you know he just came ou, he did one job and you have to change it often and then the man doesn't have any water so but it's not my business anyways because I'm a fisherman I alright."
"See and he bought a 2.50 rum, now he doesn't have any money. Then if everybody was keeping this up then it would have been alright like bringing people from health to look into your water and so, it would help because health hasn't come here so what do you think they're gonna do. If it's canal water you wouldn't know cause it looks just like the canal water right."
It's a Fishy situation at Conch Shell Bay one that beckons the urgent attention of the Ministry of Health and its Health Inspectors.
We reached out to area rep Tracy Taegar-Panton for comment and she told us, quote:
"Public health in all facets of life is critically important. The safety and well being of citizens is paramount. We need to call on the relevant authorities, in this case, the Belize City Council and BWSL to ensure that the health and safety protocols are adhered to and properly managed at all public facilities especially at our local markets were food supply is being sold. The residents of Belize City deserve better."
We also reached out to Mayor Bernard Wagner but as of news time he hadn't received that message.
