What Would an Entirely Locally Grown Diet Look Like?

It was close to midnight, and I was at my stove heating up a vegan sausage.

I had spent the afternoon and evening in Talparo at an event where one of the sessions explored the history of agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago. A question from the audience led to a conversation about just how much of the food we eat here is imported. A visiting American student shared that a professor had told them that imported food accounts for 90% of the population’s diet.

I knew the number was high, but I hadn’t imagined it was that high. Ninety per cent of our diet? Was that correct? So there I was, eating an imported sausage (not something I eat every day, for the record), wondering what an entirely locally grown diet would look like, and what it would take to shift the balance towards more locally grown food.

In a 2025 article, Vivek Charran highlights the paradox of Trinidad and Tobago’s rising food import bill amid declining foreign exchange reserves and a relatively unchanged population. He questions whether foreign exchange allocated to essential food imports could instead support goods produced or processed locally. As he writes, “Every TT dollar spent on imported fresh produce is one less dollar supporting a local farmer.”

The conversation has inspired me to read more about the state of agriculture in T&T and across the region, and what is being done to strengthen local food production, create jobs and develop businesses in this sector.

What should I be reading? Share articles, research or other resources exploring food imports, local agriculture and food security in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. I’d love to learn more.

This photograph is from my Sundaze Collection, "At the Market". I love seeing my artwork hung up in people's homes! The second photo is from a collectors kitchen :)