The shift from traditional diets to highly processed foods, coupled with excessive consumption of sugary drinks, is widespread in the South Rupununi and is the principal driver of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the area, according to Dr Mark Chatarpal, Executive Director of the Food Policy Center at Hunter College in New York City.
“Many of the foods being consumed now are considerably different from what was being consumed just a few years ago. That is a telltale sign of the nutrition transition that is happening globally. Nutrition transition involves the widespread adoption of Western diets into Indigenous communities, among others. It is drastically changing the way people consume food, and that has a direct impact on the rise of non-communicable diseases,” Chatarpal said in an interview with Kiskadee Watch.
The Food Policy Center is engaged in a two-year partnership with the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) to develop a food policy for the 21 Indigenous villages that comprise the council.
Last week, Chatarpal and a team from the Food Policy Center conducted a two-day train-the-trainers workshop in Shulinab with representatives from each community, all of whom were women and community leaders.
During one session, Chatarpal asked participants if they knew anyone living with diabetes. Of the 24 participants, 22 raised their hands.
“As a researcher, that is an extraordinarily high prevalence for a sample of that size. One elder said she could not recall hearing the word diabetes until she became an elder herself. There is a collective understanding that diabetes is now extremely prevalent in Indigenous communities. It is recognised that the foods they once ate have changed considerably. It is up to them to make the connection between dietary changes and non-communicable diseases. That connection is being forged as we speak.”
During the workshop, participants completed a survey identifying foods they had traditionally obtained through farming, foraging and locally available fresh produce that they would like to see restored to their diets.
“The list of foods they recalled eating was extensive, including four different varieties of eggs and numerous varieties of foraged fruits. Think of the nutritional value that has been lost in a diet that now consists largely of highly processed convenience foods,” he said.
Chatarpal said the responses from the 21 villages will be compiled over the coming months into a report that will inform the design of an SRDC food policy.
“It is high time we begin to recognise Indigenous culinary traditions and their importance. They are inherently tied to cultural revitalisation,” he said.
Chatarpal’s engagement with the SRDC began in 2018-2019 through discussions with the National Toshaos Council (NTC) on food security and food policy in Guyana and the Caribbean while he was conducting research for his doctoral dissertation.
During those discussions, he said, he highlighted provisions in the Amerindian Act that could enable the NTC to make policy recommendations on food-related issues.
“The NTC has the constitutional right to provide policy recommendations to the government,” he said, adding that he found that neither the NTC nor the then Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs had utilised that mechanism.
At the time, the toshaos were considering redefining the term “agriculture” in the Amerindian Act to better reflect Indigenous worldviews.
“Agriculture is the term everyone uses in keeping with Guyana’s colonial heritage,” he said. “It is so broad that it has little connection to people’s lived realities.”
Through discussions with the SRDC and the NTC in 2018-2019, Indigenous leaders began advancing concepts such as food sovereignty as a more accurate reflection of their realities and the need to recognise Indigenous food systems.
In a survey conducted at the time, Chatarpal found that the two preferred alternatives to the term “agriculture” were “Indigenous food sovereignty” and “Indigenous food security.”
“Food security focuses on access to and availability of food. What the SRDC is demonstrating is food sovereignty—where food comes from and whether it is culturally appropriate for the people. Policymakers at the highest levels could pay attention to what councils such as the SRDC are doing,” he said.
However, he added that since 2018, under successive administrations, food policy has become less prominent in national discussions.
Hot meals, data
Participants at the workshop also raised concerns about the food consumed at home and under the national school feeding programme, noting that much of it consists of highly processed foods sourced from outside the region.
One concern, Chatarpal said, was that produce supplied to the hot meals programme and school dormitories is purchased in Lethem but imported from Bom Fim, Manaus and Boa Vista in Brazil. Participants suggested that greater emphasis should be placed on sourcing produce from local farmers, with a phased increase in the proportion of locally produced vegetables and poultry.
“There is overwhelming concern about the lack of culturally appropriate food for Indigenous children in the hot meals programme,” he said.
Chatarpal also cited the Auditor General’s 2023 report, which found that hinterland school meals provided only 37% to 48% of the required caloric intake and that none of the 18 schools audited served legumes as required. He suggested that government invest more in supplying fresh fruits and vegetables to schoolchildren.
In his research, Chatarpal found that Guyana is among just over 20 countries whose constitutions recognise the right to be free from hunger under Article 40(1).
“If that is embedded in the bedrock of this country, shouldn’t the state be held accountable for high food inflation through the legal mechanisms available? Guyana has the right to food, and I would argue the right to culturally appropriate and affordable food,” he said.
Pointing to what he described as a disconnect between state policy and community priorities, he said the SRDC had undertaken the task of developing its own food policy.
“The most comprehensive study on nutritional deficiencies among Indigenous peoples dates back to the 1990s,” he said. “We are simply providing technical assistance and facilitating the discussion. The final work will belong to the communities.”
There has been no updated assessment of nutritional insecurity in Indigenous communities since then, he added.
“It is high time Indigenous communities use the data available to them to develop their own policies.”
While government has invested heavily in infrastructure and other sectors of the economy, Chatarpal questioned what investment has been made in collecting reliable nutrition and food price data.
“What are the nutritional deficiencies among Guyanese? What are the actual rates of food inflation? Can we develop a dashboard that tracks the real-time prices of fruits and vegetables across the country?”
Although the Ministry of Agriculture publishes recommended prices for fruits and vegetables, he said those prices are not reflected in markets such as Bourda, Stabroek, Parika and Charity.
Food policy designs
Chatarpal said the Food Policy Center aims to facilitate discussions on food policy not only in Guyana but internationally.
At this year’s United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the centre hosted an Indigenous Food Policy Summit involving Indigenous leaders from around the world.
“When food policy is designed, it is often done by a very small group of people in positions of power. The data informing those decisions frequently do not reflect community experiences or perspectives,” he said.
“We are seeking to amplify the voices of marginalised communities in food policy. The summit recognises the gap in food policy design through the lens of indigeneity.”
The keynote speaker, Indigenous chef Sean Sherman, advocated for the development of nutrition guidelines tailored to Indigenous communities.
“The SRDC can create a nutritional value chart that reflects its own cultural practices and heritage, grounded in Indigenous dietary values and guidelines. That would be a transformational tool with long-term benefits. It would also demonstrate that food policy can be developed from the ground up rather than solely by state agencies.”
The Indigenous Food Policy Summit will become an annual event.
Chatarpal noted that the Food Policy Center is based in East Harlem, where food prices have risen sharply, as they have elsewhere in New York City.
As a result, the centre has redirected part of its budget to purchase fresh produce for monthly distribution through a long-standing partnership with a community organisation in East Harlem.
“Fresh fruits and vegetables are often absent from food pantry initiatives in the city,” he said.
On student food insecurity, which he believes is also an issue in Guyana, Chatarpal said surveys conducted by the centre found that hunger affected many students.
The centre subsequently purchased four refrigerated vending machines stocked with sandwiches and other free food sourced from local suppliers to ensure that hungry students could eat before attending classes.
Breadbasket, subsidies
Beyond the SRDC initiative, Chatarpal said Guyana is widely viewed as the breadbasket of the Caribbean and is expected to play a key role in reducing the region’s dependence on imported food.
However, he argued that Guyana lacks reliable data on domestic food consumption, imports and the factors driving food inflation.
As Guyana and other CARICOM states pursue their 2030 food production targets, he said, the Caribbean remains one of the world’s most globalised food markets.
“Import substitution is a worthwhile objective, but practical implementation could result in significant increases in food prices,” he said.
He also questioned whether the expansion of large-scale farming could create environmental challenges.
“Is the trade-off worth it?”
He further questioned whether Guyana’s food inflation is primarily a production issue or one of access to food already being produced.
“I believe Guyana’s challenge is not food production but food access. We still do not have data on the amount of food wasted on farms, nor do we adequately track the cost of transporting food from farms to markets. Without that information, the state cannot develop effective subsidy mechanisms to improve food distribution.”
“The idea of subsidising food is not outlandish. It does not create dependency, as some policymakers believe. It is about recognising people’s dignity and enabling them to purchase food with dignity.”
He suggested that subsidies could target fresh produce that is wasted in markets, as well as fuel costs for farmers transporting and refrigerating produce.
Some form of assistance could also be extended to urban farmers, he said.
“People do not want free food. They want access to food with dignity. These are issues that could be addressed with the substantial oil revenues now flowing into the country.”
Background
Chatarpal, a cultural anthropologist, spent his early childhood at Hauraruni along the Linden Highway before moving to Lethem, where he attended St Ignatius Secondary School. He later transferred to Central High School in Georgetown before completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto and earning his master’s degree and PhD from Indiana University Bloomington.
“I earned my degrees not from a position of wealth but through hard work, scholarships and strong mentorship from Guyanese and Caribbean professors who recognised my abilities and supported my studies. For that, I remain grateful”, he said.
Discussion