Dear Editor,

Chickens have suddenly remembered that they are birds so their prices have flown higher, almost out of the reach of many consumers. It therefore means that a chicken meal is most likely to cost more wherever it is purchased. Not only the chicken but their eggs also. This means that any product containing eggs will be subject to increase. Chicken products are the cheapest form of protein, and if consumers have to cut back on the amount that is to be served to their families it means children will come closer to being malnourished and will find learning more difficult at school.

On checking with relatives living abroad, the situation is not significantly different — so the effect is global. Let us hope that the Ukraine and Russia will settle their differences without war or, as we in Jamaica say, we will be really ‘salt’.

There is another Jamaican saying that “everywhere you turn makka jook you”.

The Government is contemplating importing cheaper chicken products from abroad. While this, at first, seemed to have been a good idea, worth considering, many small producers of chicken could well be driven out of business. With the increased loss of jobs as a result of COVID-19, many people turned to chicken rearing and certainly would not be able to compete with chicken imported from overseas, and matters could be made worse.

Past experience has shown that most dealers in chicken meat seldom pass on the benefit of the cheaper imported price to the consumers. It is therefore better if the Government find other ways to cushion the blow of the increased prices because, with world commodity trends, there is likely to be further price increases in the near future.

Most inputs in the business of chicken rearing are imported. This goes from the material that makes the coops, to feed, transport, equipment, medication, and fuel. Maybe the Government could find ways of making these inputs less expensive.

There was a time in Jamaica when local inputs, such as coconut meal and corn, were available to support the poultry industry, but these have suffered significant decline. The same applies to the production of other products such as beef, goat flesh, fish, and pork.

Years ago, chicken was classified into grades A and B. This seems no longer to be the case and the supermarkets and producers should go back to this system — packaging and selling grade A products more expensive and B less so. This could compensate for the price increase and allow the consumers to have a choice.

The same goes for eggs. Nowadays all we see in the market are grade A eggs, even if they are small as ‘beeny quits’ eggs. This is not fair to consumers and should be illegal.

The same goes for Irish potatoes. I recall when those products were graded first, second, and third class depending on size, and were priced accordingly. Oranges too. Consumers had a choice but hardly so nowadays. Meat markets used to have the prices of different cuts of meat plainly displayed. But I rarely see this anymore.

Consumers have also had to deal with the economic fallout from COVID-19, resulting in most people having a budget which is nowhere near elastic. But, if stakeholders work together, I am certain a solution can be arrived at.

Trevor Samuels

Past President and Public Relations Officer

National Consumers League

tasamuels@cwjamaica.com