CAC Places Focus On Healthy Eating

The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) will be educating Jamaicans on how to eat healthy on a tight budget, through a slew of activities this week.

The move is in observance of World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD), which was observed internationally on March 15.

Chief Executive Officer at the CAC, Dolsie Allen, told JIS News that the activities will be centred around the theme: ‘Unhealthy Diets: Eating Right when Money Tight’ and involve the participation of schools, churches, sector groups and various agencies.

Mrs. Allen said the events, which will continue throughout the year, will highlight the importance of healthy living and informing and educating consumers on how to “eat right.”

“Our health is our responsibility and as a nation, we need to take responsibility for our health…so we need to ensure that we are informed and knowledgeable of what is right in terms of our daily food intakes, the types of food we eat, the portions, the frequency…how we combine the food, how we prepare them and throughout the year, we will be having the experts to give information as to what we can do to improve our situation,” she informed.

The week began with a national church service at Providence Methodist Church, Old Hope Road.

Throughout the week, presentations and exhibitions will be conducted at schools and targeted parish libraries islandwide on the theme and other consumer-related topics.

The Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Anthony Hylton’s WCRD message will be read at school devotions and other entities and fora, in addition to special publications in the national newspapers.

During the week, a media campaign will be undertaken utilising segments of various radio programmes highlighting the theme. This will include discussions and interviews with CAC officials and representatives from the agriculture, health, education and manufacturing sectors.

Consumer International, the global governing body for consumer affairs, commenced observance of WCRD on March 15, 1983, to promote beneficiary stakeholders’ basic rights.

Each year, on this day, the global consumer movement unites around a common theme geared towards safeguarding stakeholders’ welfare.

Initiatives undertaken are aimed at highlighting market abuses and social injustices undermining consumer rights, and pursuing appropriate interventions to resolve them.