By Kimani Wiseman
Shopping from some vendors around the Kingstown area who sells fruits, vegetables, Ginger and Ground provision, some of these prices would raise your blood pressure or send you at the mental asylum if you don’t have the heart of a lion to deal with these outrageous prices. A healthy diet which includes fruits and vegetables would mitigate against cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. According to a World Health Organization article, the article states that an estimated 6.7 million deaths worldwide were attributed to inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption in 2010. The article further states that current evidence indicates that fruits and vegetables consumed as part of the daily diet can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer. (https://www.who.int/tools/elena/bbc/fruit-vegetables-ncds).
Some vendors their prices are reasonable while others are very expensive. These high prices can cause persons to purchase unhealthy food which can cause an increase of non-communicable diseases. Why are fruits, vegetables, Ginger and Ground Provision that are grown locally expensive? Do we have any price control? These prices have been extremely expensive for a very long time. Recently, I went at a vendor to purchase Ginger and Tomato. This particular vendor had a pound of ginger for $10.00 and a pound of tomato for $12.00. I visited another vendor and this vendor had a pound of ginger for $5.00 and a pound of tomato for $5.00. I would strongly recommend if you have lands or space in your back yard, the time has come to plant your own food to alleviate these high prices and to eat healthy. If you are limited with space in your backyard, be creative and make space. For example, you can have vehicle tyres, fill them with soil and plant some vegetables. Plastic barrels can also be cut in half and fill with soil to plant a variety of crops. My personal experience, planting vegetables, chive, herbs, etc. in plastic barrels and tyres, you get excellent results. Purchasing directly from farmers would also be cheaper. However, I would recommend starting a little back yard garden to save some money.
You are what you eat. On a daily basis, some Vincentians purchase sweet soda drinks for themselves and for their children to drink in school. Planting a few fruit trees such as lime, passion fruit, etc. Can reduce the consumption of these soda drinks which would alleviate diabetes, tooth decay, and obesity in children and adults. Fruit juices are also rich in vitamins. The sweet and salty snacks that you give your child or children can be substituted at times with fruits such as bananas, mangoes, orange, etc. Non communicable diseases should be taken seriously. Let us look at a video on how to set up plastic barrels for growing vegetables. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fakEAnOxdZI)