Green is good, but when the rains came the floodwaters ravaged the agricultural lands in Trinidad. The areas were flooded as a natural phenomenon, but also because the rivers and streams have not been cleared of debris. Debris was the cause because of people dumping everything and anything upstream, deforestation of the mountain areas causing mud to clog the waterways and, a lack of foresight and maintenance of the rivers and streams.
People are now seeing red instead of green in the markets. The reference to red here is a measure of anger being expressed as the prices of fresh green seasoning plants have gone up because most of these crops got wiped out because of flooding in the past two weeks.
Chadon beni is now "Mister Chadon Beni" because of inflated prices. Just imagine chadon beni that can be found just about everywhere is now in short supply at the markets. Now, this does not mean that people don't have shadon beni growing in their back yards anymore, it simply means that the people who supplied the markets lost their market supply because these products are 'ground crops' and were lost in the floodwaters or are simply unusable because of all the mud that was left behind.
So what does it all mean? Those who do have a supply will take advantage of the short supply and raise their prices and may also sell less for a higher price than obtained for an amount that could have been two times what is obtained now. The floodwaters have created a problem, but one thing we do know is that flooded lands will eventually produce again - we just need to be patient and wait for the crops to return.
Source information/photo: Trinidad Express Newspaper
The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago & the Caribbean
The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago & the Caribbean