Every year we dump tons of locally produced fruit and vegetables because local farmers can't get them sold. The reason why the farmers can't get their produce sold lies mainly in the fact that most of the produce we see in supermarkets are imported and cheaper.
So, as this happens the world sits on the edge of major food crisis, which will eventually begin to affect us. Already, we have had to have negotiations with Guyana to stave off the possibility of a reduction of rice imports from that country. After all, we can't allow that to happen. We would have rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner if given the opportunity.
What we've been doing for as long as I can remember is similar to a family having a backyard garden and a cupboard full of food but eating out every night. It makes no sense. It's a waste of disposable income and more importantly, all the food we have at our disposal is going to go to waste.
So what do we do about this? I don't know because like you I am a regular Joe just searching for answers to all our problems. What I would suggest, however, is that Government embark on a programme to help local farmers grow better quality produce more efficiently and maybe that produce would be cheaper than what we get from overseas.
Limiting quantities of imported produce
We could also start by limiting the quantities of imported produce or impose heavier duties on them. We should also limit the amount of foreign-boxed cereal too. I mean, we are Jamaican, why do we need to eat American all the time? The last time I checked yam, bananas and breadfruit are all grown in large quantities locally. Why don't we eat more of what we grow and less of what we see on television? No wonder we have no money.
Most of what we earn goes to paying off our astronomical debt and what's left is used to buy necessities like oil, which has shot past US$114 a barrel and heading towards projections of US$130-a-barrel oil by the end of the year.
With this being our reality why do we still need to spend so much buying foreign food? Sure upper St. Andrew's Jamericans can afford to fly to the American East coast or wherever they want to get the foods suitable to their tastes, but what about the rest of us who can't afford those luxuries?
Lots of idle land
Whenever I drive around the island I see lots of idle land that could be used to produce foodstuff we consume here at home. Rice, maybe a little wheat, corn, soy; you know, the stuff we love to eat. Maybe companies could be offered subsidies or tax credits for turning this stuff into boxes of cereal and 'tasty' stuff similar to what we see on television that our kids have become conditioned to eat.
As for people to work this land there is an entire workforce languishing in our prisons and thousands more are in gangs for want of a better way to live. So why not broker arrangements for these things to become reality? I am sure there would be many specifics that would need to be worked out, but, I don't believe it would be impossible. All we need is the will.
We have to join together and turn inwards for solutions to our problems. We can find solutions here for our fuel problems and we can feed ourselves, or at the very least two-thirds of ourselves. So why don't we start?
We need to stop chatting and start doing. I have found that our politicians talk a good game but they never seem to play very well. It would be so nice to be able to watch the news and hear about the food crisis and thereafter asking "Food crisis? What food crisis?"
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