Govenment initiates food and nutrition policy
It has traditionally been said that as long as there are coconuts on the trees and fish in the sea Belizeans would always be well fed. Of course that was before lethal yellowing killed the coconut trees and our fishermen became tour guides. But kidding aside, feeding its population is a high priority for any government—and ours is no exception.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
Belize has its first Food and Nutrition Security Policy. Launched Tuesday in Belmopan, the Ministries of Agriculture, Human Development and Health are meeting for two days to see what strategies they can put in place to ensure the policy works.
According to Lorraine Thompson, Coordinator of the Institute of Nutrition for Central America and Panama, INCAP, the policy is long overdue.
Lorraine Thompson
“Some portions of the Belizean population suffer from food insecurity or a lack of access to food. So this policy is trying to ensure that there is less food insecurity in the country. The whole matter of food and nutrition security also looks at issues of how a lack of proper nutrition affects people. So it starts from the are of production, access, availability, how the food is utilized. It looks at matters of micro-nutrient deficiencies, malnutrition and issues such as those.”
The policy is also designed to train communities in backyard gardening, and pregnant and lactating mothers on the importance of good nutrition.
Lorraine Thompson
“We are talking about education that’s going to start. Training people how to produce the foods that we need, how to use it, how to eat it properly and the benefits. So we are talking about an education process throughout, from production to how we get the food to the table and the benefit that it’s going to have.”
And visiting nutritionist of the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, Christine Bocage, is concerned about the benefits Belizeans will miss if they make poor dietary choices.
Christine Bocage, Nutritionist C.F.N.I.
“We have moved from infectious diseases to diseases that are called chronic non-communicable diseases, or nutrition related diseases. These have actually stemmed from people’s behaviour or lifestyles. Lifestyles like eating too much fats, salts, sugars, consuming too much alcohol, smoking, sedentary lifestyles, particularly people are not exercising as much as they should anymore. So basically, yes, I am concerned. So even though you find that there is enough food, there are also some people who are not getting sufficient. So we are looking at a mild distribution of the food within the country itself.”
Lorraine Thompson
“Very strong political commitment. The policy was launched at the highest level, there were three ministers supporting the process, there were other ministries involved, the international agencies are supporting the process. Currently we have representatives from the Institute for Nutrition for Central America, we have the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute here. We have various other international organisations that have pledged to support the process and we think that with the strong political commitment on one side and the international support, a difference can be made.”
Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
