Foreigners at COP30 are discovering what Brazilians — especially those from the Amazon — have known all along: açaí isn’t sweet! While the rest of the world enjoys it as a sugary, frozen treat topped with banana, strawberry, and granola, the real thing served in Belém, the host city of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, is entirely different — a thick, earthy, unsweetened blend served with fried fish and manioc flour (farinha), a classic dish of Pará cuisine.
As reported by the Associated Press, some visitors were surprised by the authentic flavor. “Maybe if we add a little honey, some banana,” joked Catherine Bernard, a 70-year-old visitor from France, after trying the traditional version downtown. For locals, though, açaí is not dessert — it’s a superfood.
In the Amazon, açaí pulp is served at room temperature, often in a plate rather than a bowl, as a thick sauce accompanying fried fish, shrimp, or cassava flour. It can also be the main course on its own — simple, nourishing, and deeply tied to the region’s way of life. “The açaí coming from Indigenous people is the food when there’s no food. It can be the main course for us,” explained Tainá Marajoara, an Indigenous activist and chef who serves the dish at her restaurant inside the COP30 pavilion. “Açaí is also the blood running in the forest.”
Her words highlight what’s at stake beyond the plate. Açaí sustains both people and ecosystems. The state of Pará, where Belém is located, produces about 90% of Brazil’s açaí, most of it harvested manually by peconheiros — workers who climb tall palms barefoot to collect the heavy bunches of berries. The global demand has created jobs and economic opportunity for thousands of families, but it also depends on the delicate balance of the rainforest.
In some coastal areas of the Amazon, erosion and salinization are already altering the fruit’s color and taste. For Marajoara and other local advocates, protecting the forest means protecting the berry itself. “The açaí that belongs in our food culture comes from floodplain areas, from a healthy ecosystem,” she said. “For açaí to be healthy, the rainforest needs to be healthy too.”
As COP30 turns the world’s attention to climate action, the humble açaí bowl — or rather, the hearty plate of açaí with fried fish — tells a larger story. It’s a reminder that in the Amazon, food is culture, sustenance, and survival, all flowing together like the rivers that nourish the forest.
🌿 Curious about the global rise of this rainforest superfruit and the science behind its benefits? Read next: Brazil Açaí: The Science Behind the Superfood
