WESTERN BUREAU:

Adding their voices to the national call to 'eat what we grow and grow what we eat' are tourism stakeholders and chefs, who stressed the importance of self-sufficiency, especially as food security has taken prominence in a year characterised by price swings.

Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Culinary Federation of Jamaica (CFJ) at the Round Hill Hotel and Villas last Wednesday, Josef Forstmayr, the resort's managing director, encouraged Jamaicans to eat more local produce.

"Let's eat what we grow and what we know," said Forstmayr, who encouraged the chefs and tourism stakeholders present to purchase seasonal fruits and vege-tables available nationwide, instead of imported produce that took weeks to arrive.

Home-grown products

Forstmayr, a former Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association president, also emphasised that the local farming sector's survival would be jeopardised if consumers failed to patronise home-grown products.

"Our responsibility is to make sure that our local produce is sold and produced in the future, because if we don't consume it, nobody is going to produce it," he said.

Dennis McIntosh, president of the CFJ, echoed these sentiments, saying, "To buy food we can grow is a crime."

A chef by profession, McIntosh told The Gleaner that the federation endorsed the use of local produce in Jamaican eateries and urged chefs to be creative.

Local produce

Forstmayr said Round Hill was committed to local farmers. "I will not allow imported fruits in my hotel and I have some of the most spoilt people on the planet," he told the audience. He also said that guests do not clamour for overseas products and are satisfied with quality Jamaican produce.

Currently, Round Hill Hotel and Villas has its own vege-table garden, which provides the property with 50-60 per cent of the produce needed for the winter season. Among the crops that are being planted are arugula, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, sunflo-wers, pak choi, lettuce and squash.

"I still need to buy 40-50 per cent of the produce I will need, but I try to find locally produced organic farmers who can supply that. It might be a little more expensive, but I'm willing to go the extra mile," said Forstmayr.