Dear Editor,

I was in Atlanta during the Christmas holidays and was taken on a shopping trip to the DeKalb International Farmers’ Market. This is a type of supermarket that specialises in agricultural products, including farm fresh fruits and vegetables imported from practically every country of the world. Products are labelled by name and country of origin and displayed on stalls with the country’s national flag hanging immediately overhead, or in close proximity.

I had been there before some seven years ago and was deeply disappointed and disgusted at that time by the poor quality of the produce I saw on sale on the Jamaican stalls. It was my hope therefore, to see an improvement on this occasion, but my hope was completely dashed.

Instead of improvement, I saw marked deterioration — two pieces of weather-beaten negro yam and a few bulbs of sweet potatoes – at the busiest shopping time of the year! “My God!” I gasped. Is this the best we can do? Turning in distress to my Jamerican hosts, I wondered aloud: What will the hundreds of shoppers from such a diverse mix of ethnicities and nationalities think of Jamaica when they pass by and make comparisons with the vast array of attractive produce from almost all the other countries represented there?

I have been to the Denbigh agricultural shows in Jamaica and know, if from nothing else, that we are capable of giving a much better account of ourselves than that which was on open display in DeKalb. Are we not missing a golden opportunity here? Over to you, Dr Tufton.

D Graham

PO Box 433

Kingston 10