Farmers want more than lip service – Christopher

Representative of the Fifth Electoral District Delores Christopher has called on her colleagues to not only pay lip service to local farmers, but to give them the tangible support they need.

“We have to support our farmers. We have to stop saying it, and [start to] do it. They are still crying for water; they are still willing to produce food crops,” she said.

Noting that supporting farmers is critical to the British Virgin Islands’ food security, Christopher indicates that the territory must reduce its heavy reliance on imported foods.

“There used to be a pride in planting your own food. Yes, it is more healthy. But the way the world is moving, you don’t know when the supermarket shelves will be empty, and then we can’t find what to eat,” she continued.

“We are importing everything, that’s a problem. Somehow along the way we had things mix up. Homegrown food is healthy and we must be able to trust the food we consume on a daily basis.”

Adding that farmers are still willing to plant crops, Christopher recently told the House of Assembly that persons should also be made to see farming as a lucrative business venture.

“We have come to a point where we are looking for jobs, but planting food is not one of them. We can’t over-emphasize the fact that we must encourage it (farming) to the point where persons can see that there is money to be made,” she added.