FIRST, LET ME DECLARE my absolute and total support for those advocating the use and consumption of more locally produced items, especially by our tourism industry.
When James Paul, the chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society recently boasted that Sandals Barbados was purchasing 1 000 pounds of local produce each week, no one thought to question him about what this actually means. In all fairness to Paul, he stated that they were trying to increase this amount, but let’s look at the current figures.
If the hotel is full, that is a capacity of 580 guests each night who have every meal and snack included in the cost. This equates to a volume of just four ounces per person per day. And that is before any allowance is made for the quoted 600 staff and management taking meals on the property.
The United States (US) is currently the largest market for Sandals and the average American, according to information online, is 36.6 years of age, five feet nine inches tall and weighs 190 pounds if male, or five feet four inches and 164 pounds if female. Again, based on averages, each American consumes nearly 5.5 pounds of food daily.
Over a year, this includes 29 pounds of french fries, 23 pounds of pizza, 24 pounds of ice cream, 53 gallons of soda, 24 pounds of artificial sweetener and a staggering 2 736 pounds of sodium, which is 47 per cent above the recommended medical limit. All of this adds up to 2 700 calories daily.
The question should also be asked: is the average Sandals guest likely to consume more or less than they do at home than on a fully all-inclusive vacation? In reality then, the four ounces of local produce mentioned above represents less than four per cent of consumables used daily, which is therefore a proverbial drop in the ocean.
In commenting on the possibility of more local produce being bought by Sandals, Paul had said: “We know it’s not going to be easy because there is not a relationship that is there already and we do not have any existing hotels in Barbados that are likely to buy on the scale that Sandals is proposing to.”
This surprised me, as while not all-inclusive, the Hilton clearly has more rooms and also directly benefits from outside meetings and events which involve catering. Elegant Hotels has more all-inclusive rooms across its five hotels than Sandals Barbados, so what credibility does this statement have?
What must be clear to Government, is that after granting the unprecedented unilateral concessions to Sandals, which almost two years later not a single other hotel in Barbados has been able to obtain, there must be more than lip service given to supporting our agricultural sector.
Sandals has every opportunity given its massive financial strength and unique advantages to play a greater role in helping to increase our capacity to feed both the local and visitor population. Let us see them lead by example, including at least partially funding farming groups and perhaps help provide other waste land to stimulate and encourage cooperative growing entities.
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