At a time when Jamaica faces a serious survival crisis, it seems that all we want to talk about is a debate. This debate is to be firmly rooted in the past and will lay the basis of blame for what went wrong under whose watch. This would be akin to an investigation into which iceberg sank the Titanic, and will not suggest who should be assisting those persons who are now still in the deep water.

The whole system of debate and the intervening misbehaviour which we are subjected to while watching is less organised than that involving high school students. At least in high school there are better standards of behaviour. None of these debates will put food on the table, or provide meaningful employment for anyone. This will only lead to more of the “one-upmanship” which has placed us in our current predicament. This is not getting us anywhere. This is food for thought.

Recent projections suggest the world population will increase by 2.5 billion by the year 2050. This massive increase will not only use up some of our existing agricultural space, but will increase the demand for food. How we will meet this increased demand is unclear to me as global climatic change is unpredictable, especially when it comes to the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Cycles of flooding, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes, temperature changes, and the melting of polar ice all seem to make planned production less effective.

Predicted changes in the demand for a different variety of food for the emerging middle classes in India and Asia suggest that they will want less rice and more animal protein. This will necessitate an increase in the livestock industry, which in turn will add a greater burden on emissions which are already at substantially high levels, and these increases in greenhouse gases will bring further stress to our climatic conditions. One of the proposed ways of dealing with the nutritional requirements of the increased population seems to be genetically modified foods (GM). These bio-engineered food crops are the subject of great worldwide research, as well as strong hostility. The green revolution has not yet offered a solution, but continues to be strong lobbyists against GM foods, possibly with good reason. Their choices are straightforward. Say no to GM foods and yes to massive birth control. But that will gain the ire of the religious right who will start their own protest and debates while countless millions starve. To the very poor persons faced with starvation watching their children wither, as often shown on BBC and other world news, withholding more productive food methods is not an option. So what is required here is not a debate, but concerted and unified action.

Water, a dwindling resource, is heading towards crisis proportions. Changes in rainfall patterns and inadequate storage and treatment facilities have already made the retail price per litre of water greater than that of gasoline. Petroleum will not assuage our thirst, neither will it provide nutrients required for farming. We in Jamaica are still searching for petroleum, while Dominica is making arrangements to market water to the Middle East where they have lots of petroleum but no water. Here in Jamaica, we continue to demand better service from the NWC, while continuing to allow squatting and soak-away pits to pollute one of our most valuable natural resources. Again, debate will not solve this predicament, only decisive action can help. Thirst will not be assigned according to your membership in either the PNP or JLP. We are all faced with this dilemna.

Given our limited land space, and given the need for sustainable tourism, we need to be concerned with natural products. We should consider selecting crops based on food security and export value-added naturally grown products. Since the green revolution continues to grow, there is absolutely no reason why we should not develop an organic farming industry geared towards maximising our returns from the relatively rich and environmentally conscious first world. At some point in the near future, if their commitment continues they will pay two to three times the price for these products and with our limited land space we must seek to maximise our earnings. We need to become the exploiter, not the exploited, and I do not mean that in any negative sense. So, let us hear from JTI/Jampro, the Ministry of Agriculture, the scientific community, the Planning Institute and the agricultural groups what their plans are, and let us share them. This is food for profit.

We need to have a transportation strategy for fresh food exports. Most of these exports will require air transportation. A successful cargo operation cannot be commingled with passenger transportation until we entirely eliminate the desire to traffic in illegal substances. This is the major reason that I have always been a supporter of the conversion of Vernam Field to a freight-only airport which can be a totally sterile area controlled by the incorruptible. Access to the relevant markets must be the subject of our negotiations, and we need firm commitments from those countries to adhere to consistent practices for phytosanitary rules and inspections. This is more important than areas of general diplomacy and must take precedence to a lot of the debate rhetoric which permeates our trade negotiations. This is not a talk shop, this is food for action.

Regardless of whether we get an IMF agreement or not, we will have to survive. A country is not like a company. It cannot choose to declare bankruptcy and cease to exist. The IMF is merely a form of chapter 11; we have to get ourselves out of this situation by taking decisive action which will return us to profitability. Talk alone will not help. The blame game will not help. Old politics by either party will not help. The country needs decisive leadership before things get even harder. Every other country in the Caribbean is talking about stimulating economic growth. We are talking about possible elections, possible extraditions, firing public officials, and fiddling while ‘Rome’ burns. How can intelligent people continue with this mindset? That is food for thought.