EDITOR, The Tribune.

THE recent Facebook photo showing the price of a dozen of eggs on a Family Island was a sobering reminder of grocery inflation in The Bahamas and the Progressive Liberal Party government’s inability to prevent it. The price was over $12. The Bahamas, unlike industrialised countries, is consumer based. We produce virtually nothing. Even with interventionist measures by the PLP to protect Bahamian consumers from possible profiteering by greedy merchants, there’s virtually nothing that can be done to prevent the inevitable cost increase for imported goods. Yesterday in a large grocery store on Grand Bahama, I saw the price of a carton of eggs for nearly $9. In the United States, the average cost is now $3.48.

In February 2020, the price was $1.04. American egg farmers are blaming the rising cost of feed, fuel, labor and materials for their hens for egg inflation. In addition to inflation, the US Department of Agriculture said that some egg farmers across the country have been battling avian flu outbreaks since the start of November. The demands for limited supplies during the Christmas season will inevitably lead to higher prices, as many families will bake pastries for the holidays. This difficult situation regarding egg inflation could’ve been avoided had the powers-that-be (PLP and FNM) subsidised the now defunct egg farm in Freeport, which was owned and operated by the prominent Cooper family. The egg farm was located on the property of Grand Bahama Food Company Limited near Settler’s Way.

I can only imagine that operating such a business was cost prohibitive, especially if the government is unwilling to offer incentives. We all took for granted the low cost of imported poultry products from the US back then. Now the chickens have come home to roost. I am convinced that the Cooper egg farm would’ve relieved the pressure of having to import eggs at such exorbitant costs. Yes, the government of today is now talking about the importance of food security. But this seems to be another example of reactionary rhetoric Bahamians have become accustomed to in the face of a looming food crisis. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18 that where there’s no vision the people perish. What King Solomon said nearly three millennia ago aptly describes the situation with leadership in The Bahamas. We lack vision. And now Bahamians are paying the price in the grocery stores.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama

November 13, 2022.