Today’s news concerning Rooted in SXM (see related story) is encouraging. The venture calling itself a “low waste indoor farm” partnered with three local supermarkets to offer consumers home-grown “gourmet” mushrooms at “a lowered retail price” of US $4.99 per box.
Making this even more interesting is the application of environment-friendly techniques like using coffee grounds and brewery waste as fertiliser. In addition, spent mushroom substrate is repurposed into compost.
It regards just one of several efforts to make locally-cultivated quality food more accessible to the public. There was mention of a “growing movement” to strengthen St. Maarten’s food security and reduce its dependence on imports.
Especially under current global trade circumstances, this has become an increasingly important matter. The latter is particularly the case for destinations with tourism-based economies heavily reliant on shipments from abroad, so their residents as well as visitors have enough to eat.
The launch of an Agricultural Business Academy by micro- and small business funding agency Qredits reported on in Monday’s edition fits into that picture. The 12-week programme with 19 participants offers free courses in farming and innovation, entrepreneurship, business finance and sustainable practices.
Some might say all this amounts to little more than a drop in the bucket when compared to the vast amount of groceries sold on the island. However, to bring about change, one has to start somewhere.
