Rural Haitians use everything available. The people do not plan ahead because they are trying to calculate how they will meet the needs of the current day. Natural resources are a readily available source of cash flow.

Life is sustained through agriculture. The production of crops, fruits, and wood is basically organic with no outside inputs. The cost of food relative to inputs is low. Inputs do not produce an increase in value greater that the value of the input.

A portion of everything produced will be sold to obtain money, which is the universal means of purchasing foods and services. The people do not use bartering. Crops are sold and the funds are used quickly.

The Central Plateau produces mangos and avocados as major fruit crops to be sold. Minor fruits are key limes, shadeck (grapefruit), sweet oranges, sour oranges, coconuts, sour sops and star apples.

Field crops are black-eyed peas, corn, sorghum grain, congo beans, various other beans, yams, taro, pumpkin, dasheen, bitter and sweet manioc, and various other minor crops. The vegetables grown are onions, tomatoes, cabbage, and eggplant. Other crops are grown based on climate conditions, in some areas they grow coffee, militon, green peas, potatoes and other cooler weather crops.

Cattle are used for milk, meat, riding and draft. Horses, mules, and donkeys are for riding and carrying loads. Hogs, goats, and cattle are raised for meat. Fowl raised are chickens, guineas, turkeys, and ducks.

There are a few wild animals. Those sought for food are fish, crabs, and birds. Children are active in looking for these free sources of food. Fishing is a major profession along the Artibonite River before reaching the dam at Peligue.

There is a market in a different location every day and some people make their living by traveling each day to market and selling their goods. Some items are bought in the Dominican Republic and sold in the markets in the Central Plateau. People travel many miles, usually on foot, to participate in a local market. Competition is fierce, as the crops are limited and they all get ripe at the same time, so one can see individuals sitting next to each other all selling the same items. One must pay for a stall or a covered spot in the market. Market is also a social gathering, where friends and family visit and news is exchanged.