THE impact of the world food crisis on Jamaica - with the rising price of essentials, gasoline and utility bills - has forced many to reconsider their spending habbits. Amongst the most affected are those women who have to head households and will have to decide how to make do with the income that for many remains unchanged.

In the past few months, Jamaicans have witnessed an increase in price of basic food products such as chicken, flour and rice which have seen increases of up to 75 per cent on the global market. In addition to this, consumers are now being asked to pay almost 30 per cent more for their water bill as the National Water Commission seeks to improve the efficiency of its service. As if this was not bad enough, the country is being warned that the worst is yet to come as world prices spiral out of control.

But persons like Rose say they fear what is ahead, considering the fact that they can barely make it now. The 30-year-old says that she has been forced to cut back on her spending, even to the point of not being able to purchase food to provide a good meal for herself and her household, consisting of five children.

"The last forthnight I get $6,400 and I have to pinch out the little money. I have to pick out lunch money for them, so I have to buy less food items and just buy the necessary stuff for the household like soap and toothpaste. As I get the pay it just finish. Most time they don't even go to school in the second week because the money run out by then," she says.
Rose, who lives in an innercity community in Kingston, says that although she does not have to pay for rent and utilities such as water and light, the pay she earns is limited and therefore prevents her from saving money in case of an emergency.

"My account empty, I don't have anything in there...not even a $1,000 I have put aside...I don't even know when I'm going to be able to save," she said.

Rose was able to secure a job two months ago at a popular fast food restaurant in Kingston. This job came after seven months of job search as she was laid off fom her previous job. The money saved from her previous job was used to build the one bedroom house in which she and the five children live. Her dream of extending the house she says, is now on hold as she struggles to live below the minimum wage which is $3,700 for a 40-hour work week.

Living without much support for her three children and two teenage brothers has been difficult, but knowing that it won't get better is frightening. Like many others in the country, she says she will just have to learn to budget more in order to survive.

"Most nights we cook some rice and tin mackerel and drink some cool aid, and we go to our bed and say thank God," she says.

Public Relations consultant Sonia Holeman says that she has had to resort to buying mostly ground provisions as a means of cutting back on her food bill. She says that she has watched helplessly as her food bill increased from $3,000 per week to its current value of $6,000.

"You see it, is pure ground provisions I have to be buying. I can't afford most of the stuff that I used to buy anymore," she told all woman, pointing to her almost empty trolley consisting of green bananas, irish potatoes and yam and a few packs of milk powder. She was spotted shopping at a supermarket in Cross Roads.

Holeman, who lives in a fairly upscale community in Upper St Andrew, says that she has to bypass the supermarkets in her area and shop elsewhere where the prices are not so steep. Even so she says that she is barely able to cope.

"Most times when I come to supermarket nowadays I have to be mulling over the price of everything I take up. I can't believe these prices they are absolutely ridiculous, some of the stuff them that I use to buy, I can't even buy them no more," she said.

As if to prove her point, Holeman took up a small case of cheese only to put it back on the shelf in disgust as she says $100 has been added on to the cost since she last purchased it a month ago.

Coupled with the rising food prices, Holeman says that her rising utility bill is of great concern for her.

"I am not at home during the days and yet I have to be paying like $4,000 for light bill, not to mention the phone bill...is just last week they disconnected my Internet. Is like as soon as you pay one bill and think that's it, another one come," she said.

In light of the crisis, some women say that it is still a miracle how they survive especially since salaries are not increasing. And while women have been tagged as being efficient when it comes to budgeting for the family, persons such as Bebby-Ann Henry believes that this is no longer the case.

"No, this gone bad now. One time women could budget, but how them must budget on what they don't have?" she asked.
The mother of three children which includes a baby, says that she spends more than she earns per month forcing her to borrow money from close family and friends. "A so I get my pay, is so I have to pay back those who I borrow from. This is just too much for me to handle, it is killing me" she said.

Henry says she spends roughly $8,000 on food and $1,500 on gas weekly for her car. In addition to this, she has to provide lunch money for her children and pay utility bills plus rent which amounts to $20,000 per month. All this she does on her monthly salary of $36,000.

Like Abrahams, Henry says that her savings are depleted and she has not been able to save much with so many bills to take care of.

But while some women are barley able to survive, some have found more creative methods to cut back on money being spent.

Clovis Gardener, a pensioner who resides with her daughter and five grandchildren, says that her dinner menu has taken a new turn to save money.

She says that she has had to substitute meat products with vegetables. Whereas she usually cooked chicken alone with staples for dinner, she now mixes it with cabbage and callaloo so that it can share for the whole household. While some of her grandchildren are not quite accepting of the new menu, she says they understand the situation.
For Rose, it means cutting out some of the protein dishes altogether.

"The kids them love the chicken and the mutton and those kind of things, but I can't afford it anymore. So now I mostly buy tin mackerel and butter bean and sausage so I can cut back on the higher stuff," she said.

While the women expressed a desire to farm crops which would decrease the amount of money they have to spend at the market, their living arrangements make it virtually impossibe.

"Where I live, they don't have any farming facilities for young people to plant crops. Not even two chicken you can raise so you can get eggs, because no space is here," Rose said.

Coupled with this, Rose said, is the fact that she lives in a community which is known for violence and where any efforts of growing products would be thwarted by theives.

For now she says they will just have to make do with what is sold in the markets and supermarkets.

- allwoman@jamaicaobserver.com

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