Belize is one of the 50 countries in the world that has completed what is known as a Food Systems Profile - compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The profile "provides a summary of the main food system issues in Belize and highlights potential solutions for their sustainable and inclusive transformation."
What are the food system issues? Well, for one, approximately 40 percent of the total food consumed in Belize is imported.
Second, most Belizeans do not eat well. The report points to the
"high cost of nutritious foods and increasing unemployment and poverty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic...(pushing) healthy diets out of the reach to a large section of the population."
The report finds, quote, "Belize may not be considered a chronically food insecure country, however, it has severe pockets of poverty and faces malnutrition challenges and associated food-related diseases. Poor food choices and limited access to quality food are leading to increasing concerns of food insecurity and malnutrition in the country. In the recent World Food Programme Caribbean COVID-19 survey (in May of 2020), half of the respondents from Belize had shifted their eating behaviour by skipping meals, eating less than usual and eating less preferred foods.
And, dismally, the report also finds, quote, "inaccessibility to healthy, safe and affordable food continues to foster a high incidence of malnutrition and Non Communicable Diseases in Belize...In 2017, 17.9 percent of children were stunted, of which a 45 percent occurrence rate was noted in the poorest district of Toledo." End quote.
In its conclusion the report urges government to emphasize "education and skill development to foster a greater understanding of nutrition and linking this to appropriate production technologies and product development to attain a food supply comprised of healthy and good quality products," end quote.
You can find a link to the entire report at 7newsbelize.com https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc0072en
