Jamaicans urged to consume and utilize more Jamaican produce and products

HERE’S TO EATING JAMAICAN: Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Monique Gibbs, samples jackfruit wine along with (from left) Lenworth Fulton, President, Owen Dobson, 2nd Vice-Present, Christopher Emmanuel, CEO, all of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, and Victor Cummings, Project Manager, Lakes Pen Agri-Ventures, at MegaMart Wholesale Club in Kingston on November 8, 2019. The occasion was the launch of Eat Jamaican Month under the theme ‘Grow What We Eat … Eat What We Grow’. The month-long celebrations include Eat Jamaican School Tours and will culminate with the Eat Jamaican Day Expo on November 25 at Devon House in St. Andrew.

Jamaicans are being urged to consume and utilize more Jamaican produce and products in order to grow and build Jamaica.
The call was made by Monique Gibbs, Chief Technical Director at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, at the launch of Eat Jamaican Month on November 8 held at MegaMart in Kingston
“Eating Jamaican is about supporting local agriculture,” said Gibbs, who was representing Minister Audley Shaw, who was unavoidably absent due to an overseas engagement.
“It is about spending your money on fresher, tastier products that have been grown or processed locally, instead of being imported from thousands of miles away,” said the chief technical director.
Continuing, Gibbs explained that when we eat Jamaican we are supporting local families, and local communities as well as local businesses and manufacturing, which ultimately leads to the sustainable growth of our economy.
Another benefit of eating Jamaican, Gibbs explained, is that it allows us to retain local jobs, create the opportunity for more jobs, and save foreign exchange.
“With every dollar spent on a non-Jamaican product, we lose about two to four times the development impact that would be gained from spending that same dollar on locally made products,” Gibbs emphasised.
She applauded Gassan Azan of MegaMart for his investment in high-tech agricultural development with his Lakes Pen Agri-Ventures at the Bernard Lodge lands in St Catherine and urged other big investors to come on board and to work with small farmers in the mother farm-satellite farm relationship so that Jamaica can grow far more of what we eat.
The chief technical director noted the critical importance of revitalizing and re-energizing the agricultural sector, stating that it is the cradle of Jamaica’s economic development, providing raw material for industry and supplying produce and products to other important sectors such as tourism.
Promoting the grow what we eat, eat what we grow campaign, now in its 16th year, several activities are being held to celebrate Eat Jamaican Month to include Eat Jamaican School Tours and climaxing on Eat Jamaican Day, November 25, with an exposition at Devon House in St. Andrew.

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