est. 2007

Barbados Underground

Bringing News and Opinions to the People

,

Developing Food Security in Post Covid 19 Caribbean Economies

Submitted by Mahogany Coconut Group

Many regional commentators are of the firm opinion, that the post COVID-19 economies, will have to consider putting the Agriculture industry, at the forefront of economic planning. While we certainly do not want to engage in pessimism, we suspect that some who share this view, may be quite optimistic and are avoiding historical truths.

The belief that the region should feed itself is nothing new. Over forty-five years ago, the then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago addressed the “The Caribbean Food Crisis” and the need to halt the level of food imports. Williams saw the inability of the region to deal with the Energy Crisis as directly linked to our failure to produce more food and create a vibrant regional agricultural sector. His analysis of the social and economic negatives resulting from the damage that food imports were creating in regional economies, are as relevant now as they were almost a half century ago.

In addresses quoted at the end of this article, Williams spoke of the stigma that young people attached not only to agriculture but to the actual foods they consumed. Indeed, he spoke of how our eating habits and the preference over imported food were rationalized. He also showed how the growth of the tourism industry was influencing food preferences, that were instrumental in driving imports

Against this background, we are forced to conclude that those negatives are more severe now than they were a half century ago. Since Williams spoke, tourism has become the major industry in several islands. Some of these islands, are now literally bankrupt because the COVID-19, has wiped out the tourist industry, for what is being hoped would be temporary period.

The stone that the builder refused (Agriculture) is at present being seen as the new corner stone, in what will be post COVID-19 regional economies. We can only hope that we do not repeat the errors made a half century ago.

Reference: Forged from The Love of Liberty
Selected Speeches of Dr Eric Williams
Oil and Food
The Caribbean Food Crisis
Address at the opening ceremony of the Ninth Biennial Convention of the
Caribbean Veterinary Association 12th August 1974
Opening Address to the Oil and Food Discussion Port of Spain
6 January 1975
Pages 93-101
Saturday 18th April 19, 2020

101 responses to “Developing Food Security in Post Covid 19 Caribbean Economies”

  1. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    All I can say is that Dr. Williams’ views echoed those of the late George M. Sammy, Professor of Food Technology, St. Augustine, Trinidad, who had the same words to say nearly fifty years ago. i have constantly alluded to the fact that, for more than forty-years I have wished that there would be change in the agriculture and food industry locally. It has not happened and the out look of it happening is remote once some time elapses and the memory of the Wuhan pandemic fades into history. I can say so because most of the countries in these parts, are held captive to a mercantile group whose sole aim is the importation of cheap ( of dubious quality) food and its retail at very high prices. There is little risk involved in such an enterprise and the rewards are very rich.

  2. David Avatar
    David

    The big question will be if COVID 19 will push the region, especially Caricom, to move the issue of food security to the stage of implementation. With the world having to operate in lockdown mode until a vaccine is found- we hope, the smartest will survive. Governments and private sectors must set aside partisan arguments for national imperatives.

  3. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @RL,

    well said. i have some friends in the MoA and the frustration and bureaucracy they talk about to get the simplest things done is astonishing to hear. seems like we are stuck in our ways and are unwilling to change despite what the various ministers say in press conferences.

  4. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    In a market economy with free consumer choice it is difficul to steer consumers towards domestic agricultural products.

    How is this to be done in Barbados?

    Since we cannot ban imports, I believe that the devaluation of the Barbados dollar is essential to achieve a domestic subsistence economy. We should devalue the dollar until the local masses can only afford local food.

    A good side effect is that we then no longer need inflated so-called currency reserves, which in reality consist only of debt. The Central Bank is lying to the people when it talks about reserves, because we have not accumulated currency assets, but only foreign currency debts to the IMF and private banks.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    It must happen if the global supply chain is interrupted and the country cannot afford any longer to have caviar taste and mauby pocket.

  6. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    What items Bajans currently standing in long supermarket lines to buy? We are fast to talk about “food security” but don’t seem to want to accept that our tastes dictates what we import. Not to mention we love concrete driveways and pretty lawns, while not planting one lemon grass patch or a lime tree.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    @enuff

    You have been a proponent on the blog to finding ways to disrupt the behaviours you mentioned.

  8. Wily Coyote Avatar
    Wily Coyote

    Making the country/Caribbean food self sufficent is easy, especially for Barbados, put 500% duty on all imported food or as Tron states devalue the worthless Barbados $ to 10 cents to US$. This will also solve the DEADWOOD employment issues and make government guru’s live within their means.

  9. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    I am always surprised when Caribbean people talk about food security. If we restrict it to CARICOM, we have more than enough capacity to feed our people with some left.
    Guyana is bigger than England, with a population the size of three of the 32 boroughs in London. Ignore the other natural resources, Greater Georgetown can feed the six million CARICOM citizens, far less the rest of the country.
    As a little boy, Barbados used to import most of its rice from Guyana and Haiti; now when you go shopping at our so-called supermarkets, such as Massy’s in Oistins, the vast majority of the rice on sale is American rice. Some buyer at Massy’s must have gone shopping in the US for that rice, it did not creep across the Caribbean sea; so too didn’t the US and Canadian carrots, etc. We are the architects of our own misfortune.
    Or take the collapse of the citrus fruit business I the smaller islands. There is no reason why we should be importing bananas and citrus fruit from US-owned Central American providers when, again, we can supply ourselves.
    When can’t we set up a juicing factory in Barbados and important all the oranges, grapefruit, etc produced by the Eastern Caribbean islands and develop a canned juice industry, instead of importing from the US. When cannot they develop a jam and marmalade industry from the same fruits?
    When can’t our scientists carryout research on the residue of the products for new medicines? Caribbean people have not stopped eating mangoes, just that we seem to import them – sometimes from Israel.
    Many Barbadians are so blinded by consumerism that they now imported sweetened tamarinds from Thailand, nicely packaged, rather than eat what they have. I remember the Miller brothers made their money from selling tamarinds and frozen water (ice).
    It is the poverty of ideas by our political and business leaders, not exploitation by foreigners, that has us now scared of the starvation facing us down the line.

  10. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    In the real world, devaluation while continuing to “import inflation”, is a useless economic policy.

  11. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Greene April 20, 2020 8:10 AM

    Do you realize that there are more clerical staff in the MOA than technical staff? Do you also realize that the non-technical people have more clout than the technical people?. there was a PS Reid who thought he knew more about agriculture research than the agriculture scientist. With people like Reid in charge things are bound to go no way at all. The MOA was politicized more than ever when Lionel Smith was made Chief Agriculture Officer. for more than twenty-years he presided over the decline and seemed content to draw pay without enabling meaningful change. The same occurred with Barton Clarke who seemed more intent on becoming a tourist than doing agriculture research. He had to apologize for the failure of the MOA research Symposium: under him, it was the first time that there was none. Compound the above facts with the mercantile class and the political elite who seem to be perpetually on the take and the result is a recipe for disaster. I would hope things change especially for the young, who I feel sorry for on one hand: but when I examine things critically, maybe a bit of hardship will serve to galvanize them to think creatively and come up with new ideas.

  12. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    @ William Skinner at 9 :25 AM

    At least one blogger has on his thinking cap. It is useless; but we have too many repeating the same old mantra in a world in which it was never relevant.

    @ Tron

    . I hope the promoters are cognizant that a policy relevant in a temporary crisis situation is a recipe to returning to a subsistence economy. Is that what we really want? Those thinking rationally would aim for a balanced economy with several industries. Small size limits that does it not?

    I am convinced we should export our surplus of cheap talk. The only problem is that potential markets are self sufficient.

  13. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    David
    Yup! So shall we start with the supermarkets or would that be despotic behaviour? How about a regional approach to investment opportunties for citizens in food production–crops, aquaculture, animal husbandry, canning, processing etc? Especially in member states with the capacity? Me thinks Hal is saying something similar.

  14. Critical Analyzer Avatar
    Critical Analyzer

    The food situation will not change until farmers stand on their own feet and stop depending on government to chart their destiny.

    The corporations of this world don’t wait on government. They do what they have to do to get things done or they fail. Farmers have to get together and form a single massive co-operative type company to look after their own interests.

    Through that company farmers would be able to employ dedicated staff to properly market and distribute their produce freeing them to concentrate on farming. Said company would then be able to use the profits to research and develop new technology, fund and publish studies into the benefits of their own produce and effectively lobby government like all the other corporations do.

  15. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    Farmers in the EU are heavily subsidised. Farmers in the US are more than heavily subsidised

  16. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    @ Vincent Codrington April 20, 2020 9:42 AM

    Devaluation is enough. The market will do the rest.

    We do not need any gov and the many useless gov consultants to promote subsistence agriculture if 1 BBD is one 0.10 USD.

    The main problem in Barbados is that the government advisors and special ambassadors, in their intellectual limitations, actually believe that the state should take the place of the economy, or that the state can do better business. This Marxist belief has failed globally. That is the reason why almost all developing countries are in a much worse position today than they were under colonial rule.

    Barbados is a reference case. After the Corona crisis, we are roughly at the 1980 level of development, but we have the human ballast in the public service of the OSA years.We finally have to cut the rotten meat from the bone of the state and hope that some day something better will grow back.

  17. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hal

    spot on.

    sweet tamarinds are grown here now and citrus had a blight that decimated the trees in the Caribbean and the US. they are just about recovering and the Soil Conservation Unit is about to start selling to the public again.

    as a child i never ate cornflakes. but today you cant give a bajan child a breakfast that doesnt have cornflakes as seen on TV. you should see the prices of cornflakes and pancake mix that we so carve in Bim now!!

  18. John A Avatar
    John A

    Over a year ago the minister of agriculture said he would soon be starting a greenhouse house ” to assist with increasing food supply.”

  19. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ Hal April 20, 2020 8:57 AM

    “When can’t we set up a juicing factory in Barbados and important all the oranges, grapefruit, etc produced by the Eastern Caribbean islands and develop a canned juice industry, instead of importing from the US. When cannot they develop a jam and marmalade industry from the same fruits?”

    Its a tale of the merry-go-round(MGR). You are old enough to remember what was called the MGR. Several efforts have been made by government to get a processing plant up and running. When I assumed the position as head of the experimental food processing unit, I attended several meetings at the British American Tobacco (BAT) company, Dick Stout sat in and the way forward was mapped out. There was to be a new plant at Lower Estate to house all of the equipment which had been donated to government by the Organization of American States(OAS) and the British Overseas development Agency. All the equipment( Dixie pilot cannery with all the exhauster, pressure retort, drum dryer, urschei dicer, vacuum mixers, steam-jacketed kettles, meat pump, band saw) was there that would have put Barbados in the lead in the English speaking Caribbean in the Agri-Industries. There were blue prints for the new plant. I ordered the necessary scientific equipment. It was among the best( especially in the area of microbiology) in the island( the hospital was short of distill water equipment and equipment for testing blood sugar automatically and i was approached to see what I could do on its behalf. I ordered the milli-pore distillation and deionizer equipment as well as an osmometer for from my grant, as I said it was all Barbadian tax payers money). The equipment was received and it was never used since the food plant was folded up ostensible because of a difference of opinion between me and the relevant authorities, The real reason was that pressure was exerted by the private sector. It was argued that the private sector was better positioned in Barbados to engender the scientific thrust, Nearly forty-years later, Barbados is waiting for the private sector to step up to the plate. the Instant yam was the first to go, despite it being known that the Trinidadian government was willing to purchase all the instant yam Barbados could produce for its school meals program. It is a rather sad affair. where there is no vision the people perish.

  20. Baje Avatar
    Baje

    The food situation will not change until farmers stand on their own feet and stop depending on government to chart their destiny.

    The corporations of this world don’t wait on government. They do what they have to do to get things done or they fail. Farmers have to get together and form a single massive co-operative type company to look after their own interests.

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    THIS IS NOT FACT,

    IN THE US & UK THE FEDERAL AND CENTRAL GOVERNMENT GIVES SUBSIDIES INCLUDING CASH TO ASSIST FARMERS PRODUCING CERTAIN CROPS INCLUDING MEAT.

    ONE OF THE PROBLEMS IS YOU HAVE USELESS JAMES PAUL AT BAS LIKE A RUDERLESS SHIP NOT GUIDING FARMERS PROPERLY SO THAT MANY TIMES THERE ARE SURPLUSES/GLUT IN SOME CROPS BECAUSE OF LACK OF COORDINATION.

    INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT RIVER TAMARIND AND MARIJUANA ADDITIONAL LAND CAN BE USED FOR FOOD CROPS.

    THERE IS NO CHOICE GOING FORWARD AS MANY JOBS FOR A WHILE WILL BE LOST IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY WITH A KNOCK ON EFFECT TO SUPPLIERS.

    BETTER GET GOING QUICKLY OR THE NEW PANDEMIC WILL BE STARVATION.

  21. David Avatar
    David

    FOOD PRODUCTION IN B’DOS BEING FURTHER BOOSTED, SAYS STRAUGHN

    Tue, 03/17/2020 – 11:10am
    Food production in this island is being boosted further due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
    Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn said yesterday during the Appropriations Bill debate that while the Ministry of Agriculture had already started to boost food production long before the coronavirus outbreak began, a further increase was being pushed in light of the impact the novel coronavirus could have on the world’s food supply chain.
    “The ministry has been planning with respect as to how they were going to achieve food security, but circumstances have reached the point now where an accelerated timeline has to be put in place,” he said.
    Straughn told the Lower House that over the course of the next six months, the country was looking at increasing the local production of food, as well as local manufacturing capable of supporting some of the agricultural sector’s processing.
    “Whilst we are hoping for the best, we plan for the absolute worst. It is likely that life as we know it will have to adapted slightly in terms of what we eat and how we eat it,” he added.
    Straughn also outlined the importance of not only engaging farmers, but in using up the vacant plots of land for the purpose of feeding the nation.
    “It is important not just for the ministry to engage the farmers, but a lot of the spaces we have around us, that can be made arable, people are going to have to come on board and respond to increase the food production in whatever space we can use, because this is going to be part of the response for the government of Barbados to make sure we can feed our people, conscious that logistically the global supply chain can be disrupted and if it is disrupted, we have to be capable of feeding ourselves,” he stated.
    Saying the island was already self-sufficient in chicken, he nevertheless noted there were other proponents that had to be considered. (JMB)

  22. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    I believe you. Sometime when I was working, the CEO of a leading Barbados company rang me at the FT and sought advice on his business model. I made it clear I was not an adviser, but talked to him as a loyal Barbadian.
    When I put the phone down I could not believe that someone in his position was so lost when it came to the development of his business model. It confirmed all I have thought of our business leaders – incompetence.
    I have said on BU on a number of occasions that the real national problem is not corruption, but incompetence. We often confuse qualifications with experience and knowledge.
    I know a very good food scientist, trained in the UK, who returned to Barbados sometime ago and ended up selling tat down the wharf in a small shop. It was sad. I have already called attention to the plumber who re-t rained as a lawyer. Total lunacy. I am sure he now sees that as an achievement.
    This problem goes back to our independence. We knew we wanted to get rid of the colonisers, but after that we had not an idea how we were going to progress.
    At some point we must face reality and admit that for the last 50 years we have failed. We need good political leadership; sound business leadership; leadership, leadership, leadership. Barbados is a failed state.

  23. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    I wish that a meaningful analysis of the local food industry is done. Bloggers will be surprised that it is just another assembly industry with a high percentage of imported capital and intermediate capital inputs.
    Food security ? Let us see the figures or as my mother was wont to say : ” Show me the “working”. LoL!!!

  24. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    That was then, we are here now.

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Vincent

    Let us agree with your position, we are talking what is the % of contribution to inputs to inform the debate?

  26. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    Our food security must be dealt with on a regional basis, through CARICOM, not on the basis of a 14×21 island with a population of near 300000. In the early 1960s, with a population of about 250000, a delegation was sent from Barbados to Dominica to discuss relocating some Barbadians there.
    If we were over-crowded in 1960, are we more so now? We must put our hands up, admit that until now we have failed, and call for a genuine attempt – black and white – to rescue our country.
    If we do not, and soon, the New Barbadians will take over. If white Barbadians think they will escape the brutality of Indian or Lebanese control, they are living in cloud cuckoo land. Our days are numbered.

  27. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Vincent.

    I doubt if you asked the MOA to identify the items we want to urgently act on in a import substititution project you would get a response.

  28. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    Once again, there is nothing new under the sun here. As far back as 1971, Michael Manley approached Eric Williams about a regional fertilizer/agriculture project. In one of the referenced addresses, Williams said: “ Only four days ago in Barbados , a working party of the four larger Caribbean Community territories met to work out proposals for the organization of a huge food project to achieve the largest possible measure of self-sufficiency in the Caribbean.”

    Note this address was to the biennial Caribbean Veterinary Convention and not to a group of economists arm chair or otherwise.
    Like I said nothing new under the sun here.

  29. Vincent Codrington Avatar
    Vincent Codrington

    The local inputs are land and labour.
    If we continue to replace these with machines , imported plant materials, plastic tubes and concentrated manures ,growth hormones. and plastic green houses: It would still be cheaper to import food. But let us do the sums.

  30. robert lucas Avatar
    robert lucas

    @ David April 20, 2020 10:23 AM

    i hope you are correct. As an observer I have my doubts.

  31. Greene Avatar
    Greene

    @Hal,

    there is a local level to food security and a regional level.

    BTW what happened to the proposal to move bajans to Dominica?

    are you aware that this govt talked about increasing Bim’s pop to around 400k?

  32. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    We seem incapable of thinking regionally. We need to start thinking how the region can survive and not how individual islands can make it. We must now return to the simple fact, that a chain is as strong as its weakest link.
    In order to globally position ourself we must first strengthen ourselves regionally. We can’t seriously talk about a new path forward on an individual basis.

  33. Hal Austin Avatar
    Hal Austin

    @ Robert

    The DLP came to power in 1961 and that was the end of it. I am aware that the president had said that Barbados is too small for economic growth. Here on BU I asked what she meant: is it the size of the island or the size of the population? That was not made clear at first. It was an excuse for a lack of ideas. Blame the size of the population.
    Regardless, it is economic lunacy, nonsense, the reasoning of someone who has not given any real thought to the idea and has little grasp of economics.
    If she is saying it is the size of the population, the real problem is productivity, not the size of the population. We can increase productivity without increasing the size of the population. In fact, at nearly 300000 Barbados is over-populated.

  34. John Avatar
    John

    3,000 to 3,500 yams plants per acre.

    ~ 5 lbs per plant.

    15,000 -17,500 lbs per acre.

    15,000 – 17,500 people with a meal for say 2 days.

    FROM 1 ACRE.

    Scale it up from there.

    Probably similar for sweet potatoes.

    Remember, we fed ourselves during WWII.

    May have had help from other islands as members of the commonwealth but it isn’t rocket science.

  35. David Avatar
    David

    @Dr. Lucas

    Are you listening to dairy farmer Paul Davis explain why is is not profitable to produce local cheese?

  36. Tron Avatar
    Tron

    You are hopefully aware that the transition to agriculture is associated with a very considerable loss of prosperity.

    We cannot afford agricultural machinery. Like everything else, they break down in no time for lack of maintenance.
    The only alternative is manual labour on the plantation at competitive low wages.

    Politicians should finally be honest that the old plantation model is coming back.

  37. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “are you aware that this govt talked about increasing Bim’s pop to around 400k?”

    @ Mr. Greene

    And, I’m sure you’re aware sometime in March 2014, Ronald Jones said there was a need to increase the Barbadian population, which was endorsed by Donville Inniss.

    So, what’s the difference? It suddenly becomes a problem because it was repeated by the political party you oppose?

    As I see it, politicians from both political parties talking shiite.

    Leff out this politics thing, yuh hear?

    Remember, the duopoly rules.

  38. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    At some point in time, we have to make a concerted effort to move forward. The difference between an intellectual with just a diploma and one with ideas , is vast. We pinpoint a Dr. Lucas, who apparently or evidently fell victim , to a system that does not recognize ideas or creativity.
    Then we have a Jeremy Stevens, who just recently clearly showed that the porn industry readjusted its model to compete with the new technology.
    Without the faintest understanding of what Stevens was saying, some jokers tried to make light of his position. So in reality, the society was not ready for a Dr Lucas , and it is not now ready for a Jeremy Stevens.

  39. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    I am listening to the 2 farmers and David Ellis now. I have to say with the hurdles these guys face you got to ask why they bother with farming at all. Every government that comes seems to do nothing but talk.

  40. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    Agree with you.

    #water #praedial larceny #cultural taste

    To name just three.

  41. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    William Skinner April 20, 2020 10:49 AM

    We seem incapable of thinking regionally. We need to start thinking how the region can survive and not how individual islands can make it. We must now return to the simple fact, that a chain is as strong as its weakest link.
    In order to globally position ourself we must first strengthen ourselves regionally. We can’t seriously talk about a new path forward on an individual basis.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Especially not in manufacturing. I think we could feed ourselves here but any processing would have to be looked at regionally. We should seek to enhance trade between ourselves and not duplicate processing and compete with each-other.

    PS. My sixteen year old son already put up his website and has a google ad running. Seems to be working. Why someone would need Jeremy Stephens to tell them that is what surprises me.

  42. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    #water #praedial larceny #cultural taste

    +++++++++++++++++++++++++

    water harvestibg, mulching, crop selection etc. controlled environments, proper tracking systems and surveillance, creative new dishes and marketing

    It can be done.

    And we should get back to kitchen gardening. It can be done in pots though I think my lack of experience is showing at present. Still, I will persevere.

    All it would take is some fancy promotions to get people on board. Social media would do a good job if the right person does it. Make it some sort of challenge and it would take off.

    Now is the time!

  43. Freedom Crier Avatar
    Freedom Crier

    Barbados Improvements Part 3: Agriculture
    Posted on August 1, 2018

    6 Perennial Larceny:

    The obvious problem that no politician venture to talk about. They may talk about it as in “we import too many items we can grow here in Barbados” or “we need food security” or “as a nation we are living too high we need to live within our means” or “Buy Bajan” or “have your own kitchen garden” but never that the small farmer who tries and grows most of the vegetable crops in Barbados are being robbed daily by crop thieves at night, the large scale farmers have already given up. Why plant and tend a crop for 10 weeks and the last week half is stolen and if you set a guard the last week, the 9th week half of it is stolen or the guard says” I did not see anything I must have been at the other end of the field”. We now have a situation that the large farmers are out and the small farmers who supply the bulk of local produce only get to sell half of what they sowed. The perennial larceny law needs up grading. The penalties needs stiffening, the police needs to respond within 20 minutes and the people protecting their land/livelihood/family can be given permission to use any type of force including using firearms. Now you know why yams/onions/carrots/sweet potatoes/butternut squash/water melons/other melons/beans/peppers/ ETC. have so high a selling price.

    Since the PM rightly so, has embarked on a plan to make Barbados Government work and work correctly get the AG to do his part.

    See…. https://barbadosunderground.net/2018/08/01/barbados-improvements-part-3-agriculture/

    https://barbadosunderground.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/agriculture.png?w=1024&h=333&crop=1

  44. David Avatar
    David

    #labour cost

    We need a holistic plan. Time to stop the talk as Vincent says.

    >

  45. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    I hear the MOA talking about feeding yourself, but if we can’t get the basic needs for the sector to go forward sorted out how pray tell can we expand it?

  46. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    @ David who wrote ” you got to ask why they bother with farming at all ”

    It is likely they value their independence .

  47. David Avatar
    David

    The government needs to buy in to the agriculture project. The time for talk is over.

    This government started a project with Suriname. What is the update?

    What is the status of Duke lands donated to UWI, CAVE Hill?

    What about Sir Kyffin and huge agriculture lands bought in Guyana?

    We need some success stories!!!

    >

  48. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ Donna
    Yes I totally agree that we can feed ourselves to some degree. However, I again quote from the referenced speeches in the article:
    “ There is not only an increase in the variety and quantity of foods as we go from the poor to the well-off but also a change in the ratio of local to imported foods and from staples to delicacies. Such variation is usually accompanied by a certain amount of rationalization : poor people extol the good hearty values of manioc or yucca, that is cassava, and well-off people affect to despise it and in turn praise rice. But almost everyone holds canned foods, especially meat (Spam) and fish ( pilchards in tomato sauce and salmon) in great esteem- sweet meats of a canned civilization.”
    “ I myself (Williams) encountered another rationalization a few years ago here in Trinidad. A group of young people to whom I was speaking assured me that they wished to have no part of any agricultural programme related to the small farmer and local foodstuffs , because commodities like eddoes and dasheen were slave food.”

    The question is: Are we any farther from such rationalizations today as we were fifty years ago? Quite frankly I think such thinking might be more prevalent than we want to admit. Quite recently a friend told me that our kids were eating ravin and inferior brands of tuna. The “ canned civilization”.

    BTW it’s great to know your son is on his way with the technology. It’s the way forward.

  49. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ David.

    The land at Dukes that was donated is growing weeds, as is most of the good agricultural land on the island.

  50. David Avatar
    David

    @John A

    What are the obstacles to making the project work? This is the university for god sakes.

1 2 3
Newer Comments

Leave a Reply to Hal AustinCancel reply

Trending

Discover more from Barbados Underground

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading