this is sooooo sad! we should buy jamaica!!! Jamaica imported 90 percent of their onions in 2011 according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Ninety percent. In the land of wood and water, a basic food staple in every Jamaican kitchen was grown in a nation other than Jamaica. This speaks volumes about the economic and agricultural state of Jamaica. A few weeks ago I called my cousin who owns a small grocery stall in Jamaica. As I was speaking to him he dropped his phone as he almost cut his finger multi-tasking – he was cutting an onion in half to sell to a customer who could not afford to buy a whole one. Please repeat that thought to yourselves – the agricultural and economic position is so bad that a basic staple that comes from the earth must now be cut in half! So why the focus on onions? The demand for onions in the local market is 10,000 tons per year. Jamaica only produces approximately 1,000 tons per year. This means that 9,000 tons of onions are being imported into Jamaica every year. The Jamaican population and its economy suffer for two main reasons due to this shortfall: onions are sold locally at higher prices and the quality of the onions is compromised, as genetically modified, non-organic production is the latest trend. By supplying farmers with everything from seeds to workforce, FarmUp Jamaica will begin to introduce local markets to inexpensive organic foods and decrease the need to import unhealthy, genetically modified crops. If we are to really make a change we have to help ourselves. Ultimately, we will create good jobs while closing the gap on importation of foreign foods. What we dont use locally can be exported, as organic fetches more money than conventional crops internationally. And we will have the satisfaction in knowing we have lifted up ourselves in the process.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:51:03 +0000
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