#BTEditorial – Money needed to eat healthy

When there are discussions about hunger and poverty, the easy default position is to highlight what is happening in Africa. The pictures and videos of children with distended stomachs and skinny limbs come to mind.

Were we to remove that lens and look closer to home, we will find that there are many more examples of the impact of poverty and rising food costs.

Haiti, for example, is the poorest country in the Americas. The combination of political and social instability, high fuel and food costs, along with destructive natural disasters have resulted in a hunger crisis in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member country.

The World Food Programme, an arm of the United Nations articulated that the global food crisis was leaving millions of people “battling acute hunger”. The global entity reported that many families in Haiti are surviving on just one meal a day.

Following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic which caused supply chain disruptions, that situation was exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The European country is one of the world’s largest producers of wheat and grain.

The Economist Magazine, last year, argued that the Ukraine conflict was creating one of the worst disruptions to the supply of wheat since World War I.

It was pointed out that as prices spiked, the damage from this shock rippled right across the world⁠ affecting supplies such as corn, vegetable oil, fertilisers and many other agricultural products.

The ongoing conflict is an example of how activities and decisions taken by political and military leaders can impact the quality of life for citizens thousands of miles away, who are not connected in any way.

We raise the subjects of poverty, food insecurity, and healthy choices because we in Barbados are facing some tough decisions. As one government Minister  once proclaimed, “Barbadians are eating themselves to death”.

Her lament related to the unhealthy food choices people continue to make, the interconnectedness of those decisions with the health crisis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and the combined national costs of treating these conditions.

The administration has sought to address the NCDs challenge with the National School Nutrition Policy (NSNP). That policy aims to positively change the eating and activity patterns from childhood, rather than attempting significant behavioural change among adults.

We know the latter is a much more challenging ask. With the assistance of parents, school administrators, the policy has a chance of success in achieving its ultimate goals.

According to the NSNP, the prevalence of NCDs in Barbados has been identified as one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity.

“The rising rates of overweight and obesity in the country are of significant concern. . . .Barbados still experiences a malnutrition burden among its under-five population.”

Describing it as a public health burden, the policy document argued that NCDs posed a serious threat to the country’s economic and social development goals.

In that connection, we are forced to address the matter of high food prices and the impact that was having on food choices of households and families across this nation.

Admittedly, food manufacturers are responding to the growing calls for better food options. Advocates have successfully lobbied for less fat, less salt, less sugar – the key ingredients that contribute to the taste of items.

The very things that make food tastier are the things that are bad for our health.

The problem confronting most of us is smaller disposable incomes and higher prices.

What is also complicating the decision-making process for many of us is the fact that healthier choices are costing more than the unhealthy options. It is a fact that low sodium and low sugar products are priced higher than the saltier and sugary options.

When dollars and cents matter to those with small incomes, the lower priced items are the ones that will make it into the grocery trolley.

One simply cannot say to poor households, which according to the latest statistics, represent about a quarter of the population, to simply buy healthier products because they are better for you.

People need to be incentivized to purchase fruits, vegetables, low fat, low or no sugar, and low salt products. There are several innovative ways that government can use its power position to shift the pendulum in favour of poor households.