A University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) professor is encouraging a review of the minimum wage after the findings of his research revealed that it cost exactly $5,600 to feed a family of three a balanced diet for the week.

A hike in the minimum wage, Professor Fitzroy Henry said, would be necessary if society’s most vulnerable are to enjoy a healthy diet which can substantially reduce the risk of chronic diseases — the main cause of death in Jamaica.

Henry, professor of public health nutrition at UTech, said the research compared the cost of what is commonly eaten with what might be the cheapest possible way to obtain a 2,400 calorie balanced diet. The study also compared the cost of eating a balanced diet using healthy and less healthy foods, using a wide range of health criteria.

According to Henry, the research has revealed that it is possible to eat healthy for $269 a day.

“The recommendations (from the study) will be informing particularly the vulnerable about the foods that are in season and what has the best value for money so that people can make those choices if they so desire. And the second part of it, if we want to get a balanced diet or have people eating healthy, is to consider increasing the minimum wage,” Henry told the Jamaica Observer Press Club last Wednesday ahead of the university’s Research and Technology Day scheduled for March 12.

With several worldwide studies showing that eating healthy is more expensive, Henry pointed to a British medical journal which did a review of 27 studies in 10 countries revealing that it cost US$1.47 on average for one person to eat healthy each day.

The UTech study, he said, was done in a bid to determine what obtains in Jamaica.

The intention was to conduct the study in all 14 parishes, however, limited funding restricted it to only six.

“What we did was to look at the price of popular foods in supermarkets, open markets and also wholesale. We wanted to see from the range of prices how can we obtain a balanced diet using healthy foods and not so healthy foods… which comes up to about 2,400 calories per day,” he explained.

Following the collection of the data over a four-month period by UTech students, the information was ranked using a rigourous approach to deflect any controversies or objections to the methods used.

“The second part of it is that when we looked at the commonly consumed foods that Jamaicans use, of the 158 we collected, we wanted to know — and we have a computer programme to do this — how can we get the cheapest possible balanced diet,” he explained.

The findings, he said, indicated that the healthy diet that Jamaicans choose from the six different food groups will cost $490 or $88 more than the $402 it cost for a less healthy diet. This is in the region of US 78-80 cents, which is within the range of the international study

“We looked at whether there is a way of getting a healthier diet at less cost and so we used the programme to generate the foods that can be produced in a balanced way, and rather than the $490 for a balanced meal the computer came up with $269,” he explained.

At $269 per person, Henry said a family of three would spend the exact equivalent of the minimum wage of $5,600 to get the cheapest balanced diet.

“That is not sustainable, obviously, and so, many people choose the less-balanced option to make ends meet,” he said, adding, “The aim here is to see what it would cost the really vulnerable persons if we want them to live healthy.”

He noted that the method used by this study is different than that used by economists, which results in changing goal posts.

“Politically you can play around with the minimum wage and justify it in any way, but this study is a biological indicator. It is about how do you get 2,400 calories with the prices that exist out there,” he said.

Noting that there are implications for this study, Henry said, “you can see where this can go in terms of the compelling reasons for aiding the vulnerable if we want them to use the balanced diet”.

The limitations of the study, according to Henry, are the non-inclusion of the real cost of acquiring this meal, such as the time, fuel and other things used in its preparation instead of just the raw cost.

“The other thing I have not taken into consideration is the safety net programmes that exist because I am not saying every vulnerable person is struggling like that, as there are a number of safety net programmes like PATH, and almost every other person has someone sending remittances to compliment, so you can call that limitations of the study,”

Despite these limitations, Henry said there has to be a basis to set the minimum wage and to make pronouncements about what people can afford.

“I believe the Consumer Affairs Commission usually puts out a big spread comparing supermarket prices, which is OK, but it doesn’t give you the details of the nutrient content and what is value for money,” he said.

The university, he said, can provide nutrient information whether it is for the Consumer Affairs Commission or the fast-food industry.

“People need to be informed. There is a reason why I guess people don’t want to put out that information because they are going to show quite a lot of high calorie, high fat, high sugar, high salt products that they have, even though they talk a lot about grilling… let us see the information,” he said, adding that the nutrient content can also be provided for restaurants.

Associate vice-president of Graduate Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Dr Paul Ivey said UTech’s Research Management Office is in the process of sending out the findings of the study to relevant stakeholders.

“The function of the Research Management Office not only supports the research in terms of providing funding, but when the results come forward, in terms of the impact on the relevant stakeholders to whom it should be circulated, that’s something that we do,” he explained.