Cayman Food Bank volunteers (file photo)
(CNS): Government has published a draft Food and Nutrition Security Policy driven by concerns about the health and well-being of residents and the growing challenge of chronic non-communicable diseases caused by poor diets as well as access to and cost of nutritional food for some families. Officials said the primary concern is the ability of people to meet their food and nutrition needs. A series of meetings has been set to collect information from the public to inform this proposed policy.
Hundreds of families in Cayman are struggling to meet grocery bills and get healthy nutritious food. The Cayman Food bank recently said it is supporting over 500 families each week. Given the pressure on costs for that charity, which is having to fund the shopping as demand far outstrips food donations, they are hosting a fundraising event next month.
“With the rising cost of living, the donations are not as consistent as we need to keep helping the community. Donations are urgently needed, and this event is designed to help us raise much needed funds,” the charity said, illustrating the extent of the food insecurity across the Cayman Islands.
Government’s own free school meals programme providing all children in government schools with breakfast, lunch and a snack also reflects the concern government has about children going hungry.
Poverty coupled with poor diet is causing significant health problems and government is now focusing on the problem through the food supply. The public consultation meetings on the issue begin later this month in North Side and a meeting will be held in each district, including the Sister Islands.
The aim is to discuss the solutions to food security with the population and invite input on this draft before it becomes policy. It was prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture with help from the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute and other stakeholders. It presents holistic approaches in making the Cayman Islands a food and nutrition secure country, officials said.
The burden on the healthcare system and the medical problems caused by chronic non-communicable diseases fuelled the formulation of the policy, which involves the identification and analysis of the factors undermining food and nutrition security in the country and crafting measures to address the issues.
The goal is to address inadequate supplies of affordable, safe and nutritious food by increasing domestic production and sustainable levels of imports and strengthen the social safety net to better target the vulnerable, namely the differently-abled, the indigent, children and female-headed households.
The schedule of meetings will be as follows:
· Monday, 17 October, North Side Civic Centre, 7:00-8:30pm
· Wednesday, 19 October, Bodden Town Civic Centre, 7:00-8:30pm
· Wednesday, 26 October, John A Cumber Primary School (West Bay), 7:00-8:30pm
· Thursday, 27 October, Seafarers’ Meeting Hall (Prospect), 6:00-7:30pm
· Thursday, 3 November, Little Cayman Beach Resort (Little Cayman), 3:00-4:30pm
· Friday, 4 November, Aston Rutty Civic Centre (Cayman Brac), 7:00-8:30pm
A consultation session will also be hosted for members of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce at its offices at Governor Square, West Bay Road on Thursday, 10 November at 3pm.
Members of the public can view the draft policy and provide comments here.
Source link : https://caymannewsservice.com/2022/10/food-security-policy-targets-poverty-and-poor-health/
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Publish date : 2022-10-12 03:00:00
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