Adrian Frater, News EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
Health officials in western Jamaica, including Dr Rao Ponnada, the senior medical officer of health for St James, have noted an increase in the number of persons attending health-care facilities suffering illnesses related to nutritional deficiency.
"We have been noticing increased cases of nutritional deficiency in older people and children," Ponnada discloses, citing Kwashiorkor and Marasmus as the two most common nutritional-deficiency diseases. "Over time, even people who are now normal will begin to be affected if their nutritional intake is reduced," he adds.
Based on checks done with several established supermarkets in St James, it would appear the concerns of the health professionals are not unfounded. There seems to be a worrying trend as consumers are reportedly cutting back on the purchase of basic food items such as flour, sugar, cornmeal, rice and cooking oil.
"People are buying less because prices are going up and they can't afford it," explains Patrick Chin, proprietor of Extra Value Supermarket in Montego Bay. "Some people who used to pick up a five-pound pack of flour are now only picking up two and three pounds."
Bakeries in the western region are also reporting a significant decline in the sale of bread.
Compensating
"On an average, the decline in the sale of bread is about 15 per cent. One member of the association recently told me that his sales have dipped by about 25 per cent," reports Gerry Chambers, president of the Jamaica Bakers' Association. He says the rise in the price of raw material is the steepest he has ever experienced.
While some consumers say they have no choice but to spend more on food at the expense of other things that are less necessary, some persons have taken the harsh decision to simply eat less to compensate for the increased food prices.
"If I was taking $2,000 to the supermarket in January, it is about the same I am taking now. I cannot afford to make the adjustment at the supermarket, so I have to make the adjustment at home by consuming less," relates Gleaner newspaper vendor Hugh Williams.
The impact of rising food prices and its attendant effects are also filtering into the education system as some schools in western Jamaica are reporting that more and more children are requiring free lunches because more parents are having difficulty providing for them.
"Between September and December last year, we were providing an average of 60 free lunches to needy students per day," reports Jeannette Solomon, a vice-principal at the St James High School in Montego Bay. "Since January, the number has jumped to over 100 and is growing, and these are primarily children on the PATH, whose parents are already getting government assistance."
Supplementing one's diet
When quizzed as to how they were coping with the rising prices, some people said they were simply eating only what they could afford to buy while others said they had been seeking to supplement their diet by creating backyard gardens at their homes.
"While everybody needs to eat healthy, the need for proper nutrition is even greater in children and persons who are convalescing," states Ponnada, adding that a poor diet will have a negative impact on a person's growth and development as well as recovery from illness.
He also identifies pregnant women as another group that needs nutritious food, noting that "poor diet could lead to still birth and other complications."
adrian.frater@gleanerjm.com
'No bellyful anymore'
Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
Food-price increases have made a hard life harder for people like Joan and Mary, two vendors located in downtown Kingston,
They do not wish to disclose their full names, but Mary, who is in her 40s, and is a single mother of one, sells snacks, patties and juices outside the gate of a primary school in downtown Kingston. It is her only form of subsistence.
She does her weekly shopping at a wholesale in downtown Kingston, spending in the region of $3,000 weekly. That money purchases four pounds each of sugar, flour and rice; four pounds of chicken, a pound and a half each of fish and liver, ground provisions and a few tins of milk.
But over the last four months, things have changed, she admits. She isn't spending a lot more, but she is eating a lot less. Mary has had to cut her grocery basket by more than 50 per cent.
Money worthless
"Mi can't buy four pound of chicken, mi have to buy pound and pound and a half," she explains. "Money no value nutten again. One time a man could give you $1,000 and you use it buy whole heap of things, it can't do nutten again. A thousand dollars can't even buy you Sunday dinner," she adds.
Her daughter is being affected, because often, there is no lunch money. Her father died some years ago.
"Mi give her $100 and that just cover bus fare. When she come home, she have to fry two dumplings till me come," Mary relates.
Joan's story, though not as depressing, is similar. She has six grandchildren for whom she provides. She buys the same goods at the wholesale as Mary, but she has found that in recent months, she has been buying less meat and more tinned products.
Substitute
Tinned mackerel and sometimes corned beef replace chicken, and she buys condensed milk in place of powdered milk.
"The condensed milk is $100 a tin, but it lasts longer than the Lasco (powdered milk)," she explains.
The women have also observed that the children to whom they sell are also being affected by the price increases. The women have had to increase the price on most of their goods.
"Pickney that used to buy patty sometimes just buy something cheaper because them can't afford it no more. Some a them buy Cheese Trix or just buy two lollipop and bag juice," says Joan.
Some of the children have even resorted to theft because their meagre lunch money has been devalued.
"Dem come and tell you seh dem pay you already and dem know that dem never pay you yet," recounts Joan. "Some of dem belly caan full because dem not getting nutten at them yard," she adds.
gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com
