STATEMENT BY THE LUCIAN GREENS PARTY:
As some of you may know, the Ministry of Agriculture has recently asked vegetable farmers to cut back on production, which initially sounds absurd in these times, but after a quick realization, we understand that this directive is due to the fact that there are no visitors occupying our hotels. This shows that the phrase, “making the marriage between tourism and agriculture” has borne tangible results to some extent, as making this marriage has been a goal of successive administrations for decades. Unfortunately, what this exposes is that despite a huge food import bill of almost half a billion dollars, our local populace are unable to take up the slack.
Lucians seem to prefer purchasing imported food products rather than buying local. Despite all the BUY LOCAL campaigns over the decades, Lucians seem intent on ignoring the message. Despite the fact that the United Nations is predicting a global famine due to climate change extreme weather events and compounded by this virus, we are cutting back production of locally grown produce. Despite the outrageous rates of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity due to our voracious consumption of imported, containerized, processed, artificial foods, the population in general is rejecting consuming locally grown produce. Despite the fact that the best way to fight this corona virus is to boost ones immune system by consuming as many natural, fresh foods as possible, making food your medicine and medicine your food, farmers are being asked not to produce in this optimum growing season, where they have an opportunity to achieve bumper yields and make some profit for themselves. It seems unreal.
Unfortunately, the “buy local, eat local” messaging, has clearly missed its mark. A massive effort MUST be made to change this situation. The campaign must be revisited with much more intent to achieve measurable results. This is the most opportune time to do so, when the entire populace is focused on survival, and everyone is aware that the fit will survive in these precarious times. There is no better time for people to change their eating and purchasing habits. If we want a bright future for our country, we must become a healthy nation, a nation immune or resistant to viruses, because this is just the first of many deadly diseases that humankind will be facing in the future. This is not the time to wait on a politician to give you a directive, this is a time for you to take matters into your own hands and make the necessary changes in your eating habits to prepare you for the challenging times that lay ahead.
The hotels were purchasing a significant amount of local produce, but now that that market has dried up, the only other market for these farmers is the local market. Regional markets for fresh produce have never been seriously pursued by successive administrations as Saint Vincent has done, where every week a shipload of Vincentian produce is delivered to Trinidad. We are well positioned geographically to supply islands both north and south of us. The markets are there.
Apart from the marketing of fresh produce, locally and abroad, there has been no effort to increase the shelf life of our local produce or to add value. Typical examples are bananas and cocoa, which we have been only producing in their raw state for export. No added value, no added shelf life. In the case of cocoa, we export beans, only to import millions of dollars of chocolate bars. Food independence is true independence.
So, until other alternative markets are developed, we are asking you, the Lucian people, to step up, to make some changes in your lives, make some sacrifices, make some positive decisions, by trying your best to reject the desire to purchase food products not grown in Saint Lucia, and to purchase produce grown by a local farmer, a fellow hard working Saint Lucian. We are our brother’s keeper. Better for you, better for the farmer, better for our Beautiful Island Home.
Stay safe.
