Real advice if considering 3rd worlds....

I really enjoy learning to make the region-specific food specialties.

A treat in the Ixil Triangle is boxboles; you role a little masa paste in a guisquil (chayote) leaf, squeeze it, and boil it. Often they're served with several sauces to choose from and you eat the leaf, too. Delicious! There are a few photos in the 2nd row here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/sets/72157602156541263/

The closest I've come to those outside of the Ixil region is tamalitos with chipilín, a popular herb you can find in markets around Lake Atitlán; the tiny leaves and yellow flowers are rinsed and picked off the stems, then kneaded into masa paste that has water and oil added, and wrapped in fresh (or dried but then soaked) corn husks and steamed for an hour; like with tamales, you don't eat the wrap. Here's a blog post with the steps:
http://hopefulistinlatinamerica.blogspot.com/2014/11/tamalitos-con-chipilin.html

I spent three weeks with my wife in Guatemala and enjoyed everyday and everywhere.

I don't know what you are complaining about, especially the food, no not as cheap as SE Asia, but its NOT SE Asia, its Central America...get over it.

good 4 you. asa diabetic I now have to be very careful of food i eat...its not that I am fussy but HAVE to limit my choices. Dont be so quick to assume what motivates others sometimes it is health issues like mine.

Then mention the fact you need a special diet, and you find it easier to meet your needs in Asia than in Latin America...dont knock Central America just because it does not meet your special requirements...when it comes to fresh healthy food, the Asian diet is second to none....when it comes to bad processed food, the USA is the worst.

I have traveled a lot with a grown daughter who has Type 1 Diabetes; she loves traveling in Central America because it is relatively easy to find low carb, natural options there. I have food issues, too - no processed meat, yellow dye, or soy - and feel the same way. You will never convince most of us who travel regularly to Guatemala and/or have homes there that great quality, healthy food has to be expensive or is tough to find. To each his/her own!

point well taken. yes Im sure asian food is far healthier...I just was suprised in central america that plain Organic food is not more plentiful of course more costly , but at least available in USA....in Guatamala choices were just....very limited I found even in big cities. mostly white bread & packaged or prepared all with too much salt or sugar.
sugary sweets everywhere but plain popcorn? never!

Organic food in these countries is usually exported, as its not cheap to produce compared to non organic. Each country varies in its offerings of Organic, but the more modern and multi national agri producers pretty much are profit driven, and have huge operations, and are not organic. Then there is the local subsistence farmers that grow enough for their family/village and sell the rest at markets...

But we never had a issue with nice fresh and healthy offerings in Guatemala, in fact, I thought some of the cuisine was outstanding and a very good value too.

I thought the greasiest food was in the capital, and most western, unless you were at a street market vendor...

When traveling, should I look for the food I eat in EE:UU? Or; should I look to see what goes on in other parts of the world. I like telling Mexican peole that they have better tortillas in Guatemala. I buy Oro de Maya and cook it on a little alcohol stove in my room. I like buying tomatoes from a young Maya girl that picked them that morning. This is the first I have heard about problems getting food. There seems to be an abundance of food in Guatemala. Well, there was one village where you could only buy marshmallows, or little pasta wheels on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday they had every kind of food a farmer could grow.

Was I looking to see how the people in the mountains live, or looking for the things I had at home.

Best cafe in Guatemala? 7 girl cousins stand in the door makeing tortillas de maiz. They open the lids on the pots untill I see something very delicios. They flip fresh tortillas directly from the fire onto my plate. The 7 girl cousins want to practice engilsh. * I love you* is the only english they know. They said I have bonita ojos. Is 15q a reasonable price for fresh food, and a lesson in the Maya language? What where you saying about something better in the North?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXe7KNb7RqY

Great post! Love your point & sensibility. Next time I will put more effort into cooking myself & seek out the locals with good choices to consume in the tortilla... ! thanks for your eloquence & simple truths.

I should be more specific. organic food. whole wheat real bread. Sure. fried food is plentiful but everything is sugar laden & added sugar & greasy food
are not my food choices.

100% whole wheat? you did not read the ingrediants in the last 30 years. high-fructose corn syrup, can have health consequences. And is in your bread.
The little Maya girl does not know her food is organic, where would she get the chemicals?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjxGjwzWUuA