Montano says eat provision

MINISTER of Consumer Affairs, Danny Montano, yesterday called for a higher consumption of local root crops such as cassava and dasheen, and processed foods such as cassava flour and farine. With the recent call by the Caribbean Poultry Association for Trinidadians to eat more eggs, it seems the answer for lowering food expenditure in the home revolves around “provision and eggs” as the choice of daily diet. This may not be so bad in the minister’s view, since he stated that a nationwide survey conducted in June/July showed that over 36.6 percent of the population preferred root crops to rice and flour, 86 percent said root crops were better than rice, and 71.6 percent said they would buy root crops if they were cheaper. He said root crops would do a great deal for consumers, including lowering the price of food and encouraging healthier lifestyles, since root crops are usually more nourishing than flour and rice.

According to the Minister and Namdevco officials, the secret to cheaper root crops lies with an increase in production, and an increae in processed foods from root crops. The minister’s call came after a meeting with representatives of various organisations — Namdevco, the Housewives Association, the Police Service, the School Feeding Programme, and the Agricultural Society at the Consumer Affairs office on Duncan Street, Port-of-Spain. According to Montano, the meeting with the various stakeholders was called to increase the production of root crops, so it could become more affordable. He said the meeting was quite successful. He noted they realised it was not only possible to increase the production of root crops, but it was desirable to do so, since there were other things at stake, including food security. He said one of the things decided at the meeting was the necessity for a national policy on agriculture.

This means the need for increased financing by the agriculture sector, and the availability of loan facilities must be carefully looked at to ensure that agriculturalists are able to increase their level of production. The minister also stated that a market for root crop sales would be established. Montano noted that the ministry would soon launch a national campaign to encourage the increased use of root crops, as well as to educate the public on the benefits of using more root crops in their diets. However, since this option is a long-term one, the minister said a number of options for short-term resolution of the issue was being looked at by various ministries, including Finance and Trade and Industry. Asked whether government would look at subsidising food prices, Montano said, “I don’t know if we would go that way.”