Healthy eating under threat - Melissa forces changes in food options

With vegetable prices skyrocketing and key crops wiped out during Hurricane Melissa, restaurants across downtown Kingston say they are being forced to rethink not just their menus, but the very way they operate.

From substitutions to smaller portions, the ripple effects are already reshaping the food landscape.

At Salad Cene, managing director Tricia Copeland-Angus said the business noticed major changes about two weeks after the storm, when the real market shock set in.

"Lettuce that was $250 or $300 a pound went up to as much as $1,200," she said. With salads forming the backbone of the entity's offerings, the restaurant began rebalancing portions.

"Because our salad contains Irish [potatoes], we gave you a little more Irish to make up for the weight though you might have got less lettuce," she said.

A modest $100 price increase followed, but Copeland-Angus stressed that some ingredients simply have not returned.

"String bean has not come back," she said, noting that beetroot supplies are also inconsistent.

She opined that healthy eating is becoming more difficult for Jamaicans who rely solely on retail purchases.

"If it's to purchase, then it is costly," she said.

New Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant is facing the same storm of shortages. Owner Paul Shoucair says the surge in prices has already forced him to strike staples from the menu.

"There are certain things that are so far out of reach they have to go," he said, adding that plantain, banana and cucumber are unavailable and may take months to recover.

"Plantain takes nine months to grow. That's gone for the next eight months."

Shoucair said inflation remains a larger driver of menu adjustments than shortages.

"I've had to raise my prices more because of inflation. Electricity has gone up, just generally the cost of everything," he said.

His lunch prices now sit slightly above fast-food levels, but he knows that businesses and consumers are reaching their limits.

"You can only raise your prices so much because we are not in an economy where people have kept up. You raise your prices and people buy less," he reasoned.

Though both operators agree that healthy food continues to outpace junk food in cost, they warn that the coming months will determine how deeply Melissa's agricultural disruption will reshape eating habits across the island.

Shoucair said, "Food prices don't go back down. You have to base your menu on the high, not the low, that's the reality we're working with now."

"Scotch bonnet pepper, now costing roughly $5,000 per pound," he said, adding that it has been removed entirely.

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green told Parliament that the country suffered an estimated $29.5 billion in agricultural losses islandwide due to Melissa, with approximately 32,400 hectares of vegetables destroyed. Sweet pepper, tomato, lettuce, cabbage, carrot, and vine crops like melon and cantaloupe were among the worst hit.

Although the Government has since opened the door to vegetable imports, the immediate fallout is being felt in restaurant kitchens and dining rooms. Shoucair said that even if production eventually rebounds, the shift is permanent.

"Food prices don't go back down. You have to base your menu on the high, not the low, that's the reality we're working with now."

Amid the escalating crisis, clinical nutritionist Dr Suzanne Soares-Wynter is urging Jamaicans to be cautious about what they turn to in the absence of fresh produce.

Clinical nutritionist Dr Suzanne Soares-Wynter says that as Jamaicans grapple with a sharp decline in fresh fruits and leafy vegetables, they should be mindful of the substitutes they choose to buy.

"The supply of fresh fruits and leafy vegetables will likely be reduced, and we are already seeing increased prices. This means we have to rely on the dried, frozen, pureed or canned versions of these foods," Soares-Wynter said.

"Consumers are encouraged to avoid those with added sugars or syrups), or by rinsing or soaking ahead of time to remove any excess salts or sugars," she said.