Congratulations are in order for the 30 groups of students who conceptualised, cooked and presented healthy food made from local products at this year’s Secondary Schools Home Economics Competition which was held on Tuesday last. Special plaudits should be given to the Agricola Practical Institute, North West Secondary School and Tutorial High School, whose dishes of ‘Baked Fish Callaloo’, ‘Ground Provision Pie’ and ‘Breadfruit Roll ups’ respectively took the first, second and third places in the competition.
It has been promised that the recipes the children have created will be compiled in a recipe book and this is not the first time such a promise has been made. But then what? If the trend of the last few years is followed, the recipes, the children and the book, or the idea behind it, will soon be forgotten until the competition or another of its kind rolls around next year again. There is no real follow-up and not much is done to harness the creativity of these students and really put it to work for them. We may well have the next Jamie Oliver or Iron Chef in their ranks, but we may never know.
It really is a pity when we consider Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy’s constant lament that Guyana’s annual food import bill is in the hundreds of millions. It is also unfortunate when we are faced with the fact that obesity and non-communicable diseases such as cancers, hypertension and heart disease among others that can be controlled by using a healthy diet are on the rise. Yet every few months heralds the opening of new fast food franchises, which are hailed by those in authority as development and progress. ‘Grow more food’ and ‘eat what you grow’ are now in danger of becoming mere talking points—perhaps they already are.
It would appear that part of the problem is that no one is interested in anything where gratification is not instant, where the benefits might not be tangible or readily seen, and that includes the government. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Guyana would be in a much better place if its exports exceeded its imports. We only have to look at China to see the significant impact of such a state of affairs.
The call for diversification of and adding value to what we grow and produce has been spoken about for so long, the callers must be hoarse. Let us not kid ourselves, sugar is in the doldrums. The industry has had so many setbacks that it is now a patient in what looks to be a long recovery and the prognosis for it being able to compete at the scale it once did is not good. Rice is not doing too well either. We know production is going swimmingly, but markets are not what they used to be. Too many eggs were placed in the Venezuela basket, which might have seemed like a good idea at the time. But the subsequent lapse into economic sluggishness in that country has left farmers, millers and the authorities scrambling. When, in fact, if there had been a real move towards diversification, the situation might not have been so dire.
Over the years, umpteen crops and products have been tested at one time or another, many with good results, but none have been maximised to the extent that they could replace either of the traditional crops. The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI), the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) and farmers of their own volition have tested and successfully grown English potatoes, garlic, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, turmeric, ginger, black pepper, kale and chick pea. In addition, among Guyana’s native fruits and vegetables are several of what are now called the ‘super foods’, for example pomegranate, gooseberry and soursop among others.
Yet not much is being done to build on these and take them to the next level. Of course, success in growing and exporting agricultural crops and their byproducts is not automatic; it could take a few months or a few years of sound marketing to make it work. But when it works, it’s like a charm. A case in point is the copious amounts of carrots and broccoli imported and sold here and all around the Caribbean when there are locally grown products with the same or even higher good food qualities; it’s all about the marketing.
If we’re touting ourselves as the ‘bread basket of the Caribbean’, we need to move away from the basket-case mentality that envisages putting up huge hotels, fast-food joints and a specialty hospital as growing our economy. Money should be spent on really diversifying the agriculture sector, adding value to products, standards, packaging and marketing.
