Take steps to replant our food, says hotelier

A local tourism stakeholder is calling on Barbadians to take climate change seriously.

Owner of Coco Hill Forest, Mahmood Patel, during Friday’s Earth Day 2022 event at the Richmond Hill, St Joseph forest, said the time has come to explore the idea of replanting and reforestation in Barbados and to seriously review the challenges the country has with its soil.

“This is a call out that we have to start taking this thing seriously. We only have one earth. It’s the soil, it is where we live and we have to take care of it. We have to create better stewardship. One of the things in Barbados that we suffer from is the high cases of Non-Communicable Diseases and that is directly linked to the bad diets that we eat and a lot of that is imported food, what I call factory food, processed food.

“We need to seriously look at replanting our foods and looking at our food and nutritional security. If you own your own food and your own water, you do have sovereignty,” he said.

The chairman of the Small Hotels of Barbados and a Director of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc (BTMI) added that there is also a need for change in tourism operations. He said there needed to be stronger ties between the agricultural, energy and creative industries with tourism as the lead sector in the economy.

“Today at this event we are trying to do a small example of that. All the food here is local, the musicians playing steelpan. We are working with West Indian Rum to showcase a coconut rum and that is the synergy or the value added between agriculture coconut and rum mixed with tourism.

“I think what we are trying to say here is that we can imagine a different future, a different way forward by linking agriculture tourism and all the different sectors together in a sustainable and resilient way,” Patel said.

Acting Guest Experiences Manager at the BTMI Renice Medford said the marketing arm played an active role in the Earth Day event to reinforce its commitment to promoting tourism as a positive force for people and the planet. She said BTMI understands the importance and significance of ensuring that Barbados develops sustainably.

“As we open our hearts to those venturing to our shores, and unite with all who call Barbados home, we encourage you to make a solemn vow to take steps to honour our planet and preserve our paradise. We reaffirm our promise to invest in our planet for future generations to come, as we take tourism forward,” Medford said. (AH)