"Three dollars and 75 cents for a lime? One lime? As in singular? You're sure you don't mean per pound right? I'm sorry, but is this a late and badly thought out April Fool's joke?" That was my reaction last week as I stood in the cashier's line at a local supermarket, staring at the offending price tag and wondering if T&T had gone completely mad. And it wasn't like it was some sort of exotic-looking, giant lime. The lime looked pretty regular to me, about the size of a golf ball. I couldn't seem to understand why lime, a fruit, that comes from a tree, something that doesn't go through processing, isn't changed by added ingredients, or isn't affected by packaging costs could move from two for $1 in the 90s to $3.75 for one today. Or why is a whole wheat sandwich loaf from Kiss that was $6.75 in 2006 now approaching $13, especially considering that we don't get more bread for our buck?
According to the Economic Bulletin July 2010 from the Central Bank, food prices in T&T rose by 31 per cent in 2010. And the fact is that this isn't the only country affected. In March, the United Nation's reported that global food prices had increased for the third consecutive month. Higher global food prices obviously mean that countries with high food import bills, such as T&T's $4 billion annually, will have to pay even more for food. In a report released by the Central Statistical Office in February it was revealed the continuing rise in food prices was the main reason behind the pick-up in the headline inflation rate. On a year-on-year basis, food prices rose by 14 per cent in January 2012, from 10.9 per cent in the previous month. The report said the main offenders in the rise of food prices were fruits, vegetables and fish, which of course brings us back to Mr Lime and the confusion over how food that require very little, if any, processing can be making so many leaps and bounds in pricing.
After all, a lime tree can be grown in any backyard garden. And don't I see vegetable crops being maintained by farmers while passing the highway on my way to work from Chaguanas? As populations tend to do, we look to the Government to chart the way forward and make changes. Government has clearly stated its desire to get food prices under control, and by using "Buy Local" and "Grow your Own Food" initiatives the Food Production Ministry has attempted to get citizens actively involved in lowering food prices. The ministry's aim seems to be to cut prices by cutting the food import bill, in fact it has been mandated by Government to reduce the Food Import Bill by half by the year 2015. But while all that seems well and good, people still spend more than half their salaries at the grocery per month and return home to find that even that isn't enough. As far as I am concerned, people need to take a stance against the rising cost of food. To me, charging $3.75 for a lime seems almost inhumane and criminal.
