The Economics of the Healthy Lifestyle
The people of the Caribbean use traditional recipes consisting of indigenous ground provisions and fruits. As a community these can be traded and where necessary taste that is attributable to our foods.
Dec 01, 2008The importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle has been constantly highlighted in our society via the media and various health organizations Nowadays, we all have a general understanding of the value and necessity our health brings to the quality of our life. The focus here is to identify how prepared our entrepreneurs in the Caribbean are to implement and incorporate healthy lifestyle practices conveniently, practically and economically. Everyone has to eat to survive, so we will focus on the area of healthy food practices particularly in the current global trend of rising food prices.
In assessing the situation, it can be determined that many of us have developed our food habits and culture from childhood. The foods that we eat and are accustomed to were introduced to us at home. Chances are we continue with these food practices into adulthood, because it is familiar and it is what we know, - of course, exceptions apply. Is it enough to anticipate that supermarket specials, media messages and government or non-government institutional initiatives will penetrate our ingrained habits? The answer is probably in the negative, and this is not to undermine the efficacy of these methods, but rather to face the reality of the day. Thus, in order to ensure daily healthy food practices, Caribbean entrepreneurs need to implement key indicators within the health food system to introduce society to the benefits of combining our indigenous food habits with the important upgrades for successful healthy living in the region. We need to construct a platform for healthy living that rests on a strong foundation of community which would personally invest individuals in its successful execution.
For the past ten years I have embarked on a journey to upgrade my level of healthy living in Barbados and throughout the Caribbean. All roads are different; the path taken depends on the individual. Some persons may want to decrease the amount of fat in their diet, others to introduce more fruit and vegetables to their daily meals - my path led me to become a vegetarian - although I am still struggling to attain my goals conveniently, practically and economically. One of my biggest obstacles, which I only recently realized, was the absence of a Caribbean community or network focused on highlighting health practices that are indigenous to our Caribbean region. I discovered this inadvertently by going on-line and joining vegetarian networks based in the United Kingdom and North American regions. As part of an on-line vegetarian community, I could share information, resources, stories and challenges about achieving my goals of being vegetarian. Now, this is a fantastic development on-line and served to destroy many barriers I had previously had difficulties overcoming. Ideally what would excite me even further would be a Caribbean community that shares information, resources, stories and challenges in a Caribbean context that is familiar and can therefore resonate with us.
It could be an unlimited resource for individuals to practically acquire the tools to upgrade their healthy lifestyle in a familiar context. If there was an ever-growing vegetarian or like-minded community in Barbados to constantly connect with, I would gain the support that is necessary and beneficial when branching out into unfamiliar waters. I would be able to establish methods of food sharing and even exchanging garden items with other members of the network. As a community we could approach farmers and form a co-op where they could directly supply us if we guaranteed a certain amount of business weekly.
The people of the Caribbean use traditional recipes consisting of indigenous ground provisions and fruits. It would be impossible for my food choices to be limited when there would be an overwhelming influx of recipes! As a community these can be traded and where necessary re-created to consist of healthy ingredients while maintain the great taste that is attributable to our foods. We could affect the supply and demand in our health food stores and supermarkets. Rather then depending on health food products from international markets, the Caribbean could import and export items that are closer to home.
A collective healthy lifestyle platform authored by the Caribbean community would have the potential to go beyond the confines of the region. We could showcase the Caribbean expressions of healthy living exposing our platform to a wider international audience. The Caribbean is predominantly a tourist market and healthy living is a world wide phenomena. The niche area of wellness tourism is yet to really take off in most of the islands on a strategic scale. Especially in the area of food, there is a tourist market for local Caribbean cuisine and if it is healthy and organic, that makes it value-added as the region re-invents itself regionally and internationally in the global phenomena of the health lifestyles movement.
What is at risk if we do not establish Caribbean communities that shape the regional efforts of healthy living? For the individual, it is a state of isolation where the concept of healthy living is difficult to implement and maintain. We continue to make poor choices because they are apparently the most convenient and we therefore put our health at greater risk. As a society, we create our own barriers to opportunities by not facilitating a platform that allows us to network on a larger scale.
So what do I hope to add to the Caribbean healthy lifestyle movement by providing you with this information? Consider these questions:
- Do you have a solid plan to implement or upgrade a healthy lifestyle?
- Scenario: You have a hectic work day, did not have breakfast or pack a lunch; do you know where you can quickly go to order a healthy meal?
- Can you go to Crop Over or Carnival and maintain a healthy food regime if you desired?
- Do you really know who your allies and enemies are in this war?
War, you ask? It really is a battle, especially to stay healthy if you have not conceptualized what is entailed in doing this conveniently, practically and economically in the Caribbean.
The healthy lifestyle movement is not new, and there are many people in the Caribbean that have been doing the work to keep information in circulation. They have been persistent, innovative and passionate about their work, but I do not believe that we are supporting this network adequately in the Caribbean and this is only a disadvantage to our region’s well being. The advantages that I find with the United Kingdom and North America on-line communities is that participants have access to health information and experiences that are being shared, tested, challenged and recorded. A community exists for those, like me, that need a quick answer from others that have experienced similar challenges. I can read the mistakes and successes of others and pick what suits me and generally cut down on my time and my cost. And taking it one step further, but what is presently not available to me in the Caribbean context, is they can arrange to meet in person someone on-line for further support. As an entrepreneur we can relate to taking a path less travelled in life and not having anyone around that can relate to your choices. I think this is a vital disadvantage for striving for healthy living in the Caribbean region. We are overdue and it is time to take action now to develop our Caribbean healthy lifestyle network, after all a healthy entrepreneur is more likely to be a successful entrepreneur.