BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - A major challenge for the Caribbean region is the high food import bill, and an official from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations is suggesting that work has to be done to get the figure down substantially.

Moreover Dr. J.R. Deep Ford, Co-ordinator, Caribbean Sub-Region, FAO, noted that efforts must be made to cut down on the amount of food that is wasted. He made the remarks while speaking at the opening of the National Seminar on Food and Nutrition Security in Barbados, at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, yesterday morning.

“We often think of food security and we think of production and we must; but we must also think of the waste in our society. According to estimates at FAO, one third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted; 1.3 billion tonnes per year either lost as part of post-harvest losses or wasted in preparation, in distribution, in the restaurants, in the hotels, in the kitchens of our homes, at the dining tables when we are eating with our families,” he said.