The alarm bells have started to go off and now importers silence are being broken as they struggle to pay their supplies for imports. In some cases suppliers are threatening to cut off suppliers as importers have been unable to get US$ to pay their overseas suppliers.
Some importers appear to now be compromising the health of Jamaicans by turning to cheap and substandard products as they struggle to keep their businesses alive and this has now threatening to become a public health issue.
We have importers who are literally borrowing funds from some of their overseas partners to pay other supplies as the source of forex drives up and the dollar races towards $100 due increased demand and also some level of speculation.
Jamaicans be prepared not only for increased food prices but also shortages and also be prepared for something that we have not seen since the 1970’s ie buying one time in order to get the item you really need.
No I am not an alarmist, I am a realist.
This is a time to grow what you eat and eat what you grow. So given that we are growing so little it may be time to truly begin to produce more of what we consume right here.
Ok , yes I know the price of energy is high, but what’s the alternative ?
Warren's Blog 
Food shortages in a country that can grow food (and catch food – i.e. fish, shrimp, etc) is a natural result in a society that discriminates against itself. I told the story before of being in a store and trying to choose between a local product and a foreign product and having a relatively elderly lady telling me barefaced (and this was quite a few years ago) that I must “buy the foreign one, because the foreign one always better”. And this is kind of mentality goes right up to the top, with an ex-minister (Samuda) having been guilty of pushing for an exemption of the CET on imported (subsidized) American grown rice in favour of regionally produced (Guyanese) rice and local rice, and he defended it by claiming it was for the consumers’ benefit (even though there must have been a way to arrive at an outcome beneficial to consumers and the country at the same time). In a society like that which produces nothing the end result is naturally a foreign exchange shortage. And quite frankly I find it astonishing that people seem to think that something “should be done” about this. Borrowing loads of cash as the government did between 2007-2010 is only kicking the can down the road. Until we experience a proper foreign exchange shortage as a result of our own short-sighted actions as a society we will not correct said actions and will continue to live in la la land where we can expect a dollar that is stable yet we produce nothing of value really for export or even local consumption.
We are now negotiating with IMF so we can get their seal of approval , which will give us the ability to to borrow even more and will continue to borrow over the life of the agreement.
The solution to Jamaica’s debt problem is not to stop borrowing. That would get us nowhere but even further into the abyss. The solution is to manage our borrowing through sensible budgets and the grow the economy. Both of which this government has failed to so far.
I’ve heard from a few business operators who depend on imported goods and they are expressing how hard things are getting when it comes to foreign exchange.
Any food shortage please let me know. I know quite a few warehouse with lots of food supply. Orders are replenished without a hitch.