Killing us softly

believe it would be more advantageous to sell the rice and use the proceeds to import wheat. Rice flour, people complain, crumbles when baked into bread and spoils quickly. But President Burnham said it is the ‘most important’ key to nonalignment and independence,” the Times wrote.

I wandered back to my days as a youngster, nearly four decades on, after recently reading once again about our ongoing efforts to attain food self-sufficiency and nutrition security even as agriculture and related agro-manufacturing declines here with slumps in rice and sugar production, and across the region.

Facing an annual food import bill of more than US$4.5B, a 50 percent rise since 2000, coupled with changing tastes and painful preferences for the foreign rather than the indigenous, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is facing a growing crisis of confidence.

According to a report on this “State of Food Insecurity,” the amount will soar to US$8-$10B by 2020 if efforts to correct the imbalance fail. Almost all CARICOM countries import greater than 60 percent of the chow they consume, with half buying over 80 percent. “Only three countries (Belize, Guyana, and Haiti) produce more than 50 percent of their consumption. Processed foods, grains (wheat and corn), and livestock products (meat and dairy) are among the top five food import categories, accounting for over US$1B or approximately 25 percent of annual food imports regionally. In several essential food groups, national production per capita has declined, most notably in the fruits and vegetables category.”

Issued by the Barbados Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the 2015 document points to the excessive ingestion of calories particularly related to processed fare. Dietary changes are contributing to some islanders being ranked among the world’s most obese.

The report warns poor choices are behind an alarming “nutrition transition” with concomitant hikes in the prevalence of chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

These reflect a shift away from domestic root crops, tubers, fruits and vegetables in favour of junk that is low in nutrients, energy-dense and high in fats, oils, sweeteners and sodium. This drives the epidemiological changes characterized less by infectious diseases and more by nutritionrelated, chronic ailments like diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart-disease and some forms of cancer.

We would do well to recall these findings as Giftland Mall prepares to open its latest FoodMaxx “next generation shopping” supermarket promising an easier life for the working class. Offering vegetables that would normally be imported like lettuces, baby spinach, kale, onions and potatoes, plus fish and meat options, the business plans to sell fully cooked Guyanese and North American meals, and garden produce that is pre-washed, peeled, chopped and ready for the pot.

“This would be the greatest thing that would ever happen to local farmers and the local agricultural industry,” Company President, Roy Beepat told Stabroek News in an upbeat interview.

The selection includes ice creams, yogurts, ice flavoured with cranberry, apple or other juices; sausages, bacon and steak.

Alongside the salads, gluten-free and organic sustenance will be old favourites cook-up rice, salt fish and bake, and metemgee.

Competing too will be lasagna, spaghetti, pizzas and pies, a ‘nice selection of pastries” and donuts. Consumers can choose purchasing “Sunday to Sunday meals” and stocking them in their freezers. “So just the way we changed the way Guyanese shopped, we are going to change the way you eat. And we’re going to give you healthy options, we’re not going to give you very bad foods because we care…” investor Beepat promises. “We can guarantee you that we would be cheaper than the market and have a much different variety but carrying the same Giftland style. So we’re gonna kill you with variety, we’re gonna kill you with quality.”

ID contemplates Bill Rogers’ classic BG Bhagee and his wise words to economize while remembering her first pair of jeans was Beepat’s “Gypsy” from his company Jeans Junction before the move to Barbados in 1980.