When Curaçao discusses food prices, the conversation usually begins and ends with one question: How much does it cost?
For an island where almost everything consumed must be imported, that question is understandable. Families are struggling with the rising cost of living, supermarkets compete on prices, and importers naturally seek suppliers offering the most attractive combination of price, quality and reliability.
But there is another question Curaçao should be asking, one that goes beyond the price displayed on supermarket shelves.
Where does our food come from, how is it produced, how safe is it, and how dependent do we want to remain on countries thousands of kilometers away?
These questions have become increasingly relevant following discussions during the Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2026, where a fundamental contradiction in the region's food security ambitions became apparent.
CARICOM wants Caribbean countries to produce more food, trade more with one another and reduce their dependence on imports from outside the region.
Yet products grown by our Caribbean neighbors can sometimes be more expensive than comparable goods transported across oceans from North America, Europe or Asia.
That contradiction deserves serious attention from Curaçao.
The Caribbean Wants to Buy Caribbean, but at What Price?
During the agricultural conference in Jamaica, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce challenged the suggestion that businesses were simply unwilling to support Caribbean products.
Its argument was straightforward. Businesses cannot be expected to sacrifice profitability merely to demonstrate regional solidarity. They must consider prices, quality, availability and consumer preferences.
Belize's Minister of Agriculture, Rodwell Ferguson, approached the issue from another perspective. Caribbean governments are trying to increase agricultural production and strengthen regional food security, but businesses and consumers must also become more willing to purchase products grown within the region.
Both arguments have merit.
Businesses cannot ignore economic realities. At the same time, the Caribbean cannot expect to become more food-secure if regional producers struggle to find markets within their own region.
For Curaçao, however, this discussion raises two additional questions.
If food imported from thousands of kilometers away is cheaper than food produced by our Caribbean neighbors, why is that the case?
And even when the imported product is cheaper, is it necessarily the product we should prefer from the perspective of food security, public health and long-term economic resilience?
Why Are Our Caribbean Neighbors Sometimes More Expensive?
Consider the geographical reality.
Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Belize and other Caribbean agricultural producers are considerably closer to Curaçao than many of the countries supplying our supermarkets.
Historically, Curaçao also imported substantial quantities of vegetables and fruit from neighboring Venezuela.
One might reasonably expect shorter distances to translate into lower transportation costs and therefore lower prices.
Yet international trade does not operate according to distance alone.
Large agricultural producers in North America, Europe and Asia benefit from economies of scale that smaller Caribbean producers often cannot match.
Their farms may be highly mechanized, their production volumes enormous, and their distribution systems integrated into international shipping networks capable of transporting thousands of containers efficiently.
Caribbean producers frequently operate on a much smaller scale.
Shipping connections between islands and mainland Caribbean countries can be limited. Cargo volumes may be insufficient to support frequent services, while containers sometimes return empty because there is little merchandise available for the return journey.
Port charges, customs procedures, packaging requirements, certification and sanitary and phytosanitary regulations can further increase the final price.
The result is a situation in which a product transported halfway around the world may reach Curaçao more cheaply than a similar product grown in a neighboring Caribbean country.
But that does not mean the situation cannot change.
If Caribbean governments genuinely want to strengthen regional agriculture, they must identify the costs that make regional products less competitive and determine which of those costs can be reduced through cooperation.
There are already indications that CARICOM recognizes the problem.
In March 2026, a regional initiative was launched to develop harmonized sanitary and phytosanitary standards for ten priority agricultural products.
The objective is to reduce regulatory obstacles that complicate agricultural trade between Caribbean countries.
This is a step in the right direction, but Curaçao should take the discussion further.
We should know precisely how much transportation, port handling, customs procedures, certification and distribution add to the price of food imported from our regional neighbors.
Without that information, discussions about strengthening Caribbean food production risk remaining political declarations rather than practical economic policies.
Food Security Is About More Than Availability
There is another dimension to this debate that deserves considerably more attention.
Food security does not simply mean having enough products available in supermarkets.
It also means ensuring that people have reliable access to food that is nutritious, safe and appropriate for a healthy diet.
The World Health Organization emphasized in January 2026 that unhealthy diets are major contributors to noncommunicable diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and certain cancers.
The organization also stresses that healthy food must be safe from harmful levels of microbiological and chemical contamination.
For Curaçao, where diabetes and other chronic health conditions represent major public health concerns, the connection between food policy and healthcare should not be underestimated.
A government that wants to improve public health cannot focus exclusively on medical treatment while ignoring the quality and nutritional value of the food its population consumes.
That brings us to a series of questions that deserve answers.
Which pesticides are used in the production of the vegetables and fruits imported into Curaçao?
What standards apply to pesticide residues?
How frequently are imported agricultural products tested?
Are the results of those inspections publicly available?
And are locally and regionally produced foods subject to comparable requirements?
These questions should not be interpreted as an accusation that imported food is unsafe.
Nor should anyone assume that food produced within the Caribbean is automatically healthier.
The point is that consumers deserve assurance that the food entering Curaçao meets appropriate safety standards, regardless of its country of origin.
The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization regularly evaluate pesticide residues and provide scientific recommendations that help governments establish maximum permitted levels.
Their latest report, published on May 29, 2026, examined 38 pesticides and assessed issues including toxicity, dietary exposure and recommended residue limits.
The scientific framework exists.
The relevant question for Curaçao is how these international standards are incorporated into local food safety controls and how effectively compliance is monitored.
Genetically Modified Food Deserves a Transparent Debate
Another issue that Curaçao should address more openly is genetically modified food.
From a precautionary and consumer-choice perspective, there is a legitimate argument for giving preference to food produced without genetic modification.
For this analysis, the preferred direction would be to encourage non-GMO alternatives wherever they are available, safe, affordable and capable of meeting consumer demand.
However, this preference should not be confused with a scientific conclusion that all genetically modified foods are dangerous.
The World Health Organization states that genetically modified foods currently available on international markets have undergone safety assessments and are not considered likely to present risks to human health. It recommends evaluating individual products on a case-by-case basis.
The organization identifies allergenicity, gene transfer and the potential mixing of genetically modified and conventional crops among the issues considered in safety assessments.
The broader discussion also involves agricultural practices, environmental effects, seed ownership and the influence of large agricultural corporations.
For Curaçao, the immediate priority should be transparency.
Consumers who wish to avoid genetically modified products should have access to reliable information allowing them to make that choice.
That requires a serious discussion about labeling, traceability and the standards applied to imported food.
A clear food policy should distinguish between scientifically established health risks, environmental concerns and individual consumer preferences.
It should also ensure that conventional, organic and genetically modified products are assessed according to appropriate food safety requirements.
Reducing Dependence Is a Strategic Choice
Perhaps the most important dimension of this debate is Curaçao's dependence on external food suppliers.
For centuries, Caribbean economies have depended heavily on countries outside the region for essential goods, investment, transportation and trade.
That historical pattern continues to influence how food reaches our supermarkets.
Curaçao cannot realistically become completely self-sufficient in food production.
Our limited agricultural land, climate, water availability and population size impose practical restrictions.
Nor would eliminating international food imports necessarily make economic sense.
But there is an important difference between recognizing that imports are necessary and accepting excessive dependence as unavoidable.
Food supply chains can be disrupted by geopolitical tensions, international conflicts, shipping problems, extreme weather, fuel-price increases and decisions made by governments thousands of kilometers away.
When those disruptions occur, small island economies often have limited alternatives.
Developing stronger regional food production and distribution networks would not eliminate those risks, but it could provide additional sources of supply.
A farmer in Guyana, Belize, Suriname or Jamaica represents more than a potential supplier.
Regional agricultural production also represents employment, technical knowledge, productive land, investment opportunities and economic capacity that remains within the Caribbean.
These are strategic assets.
In that sense, regional food production should be viewed as part of the Caribbean's essential economic infrastructure.
Curaçao Should Help Shape the Regional Solution
Curaçao has an opportunity to approach this issue pragmatically.
Rather than simply calling for more Caribbean products in supermarkets, the government could work with regional partners, importers, agricultural producers and distributors to identify products that could be supplied competitively from within the region.
That assessment should examine actual prices, transportation costs, reliability, seasonal availability, quality and food safety.
It should also explore whether joint purchasing arrangements, improved shipping connections, shared storage facilities and harmonized import procedures could reduce costs.
The objective should not be to force consumers to pay substantially more for food merely because it comes from a Caribbean country.
Such an approach would be particularly difficult to justify when many Curaçao households are already struggling with their monthly expenses.
Instead, the objective should be to make safe, nutritious and regionally produced food more affordable and accessible.
This requires cooperation between governments and businesses rather than placing the entire responsibility on consumers.
Regional food security will not improve simply because politicians encourage people to buy Caribbean products.
It will improve when regional producers can deliver competitive products through efficient, reliable and transparent supply chains.
A Different Way of Measuring Food Security
Ultimately, Curaçao needs a broader definition of food security.
The success of our food supply system should not be measured exclusively by whether supermarket shelves remain stocked or whether imported products are available at attractive prices.
We should also consider how nutritious those products are, whether they meet appropriate safety standards, how transparent their production and distribution are, and whether Curaçao has alternative sources of supply when international markets are disrupted.
These considerations do not replace affordability. They complement it.
Food that is safe and nutritious but unaffordable does not solve the problem of food insecurity.
Likewise, inexpensive food that contributes to poor nutrition or leaves the island dangerously dependent on a limited number of foreign supply chains does not necessarily represent a sustainable long-term solution.
Curaçao should therefore aim for a food system that combines affordability, nutritional quality, safety, transparency and greater local and regional production wherever practical.
The Caribbean Week of Agriculture has once again demonstrated that the region understands the importance of producing more of its own food.
The challenge now is to turn that ambition into functioning trade relationships that benefit producers, businesses and consumers alike.
For Curaçao, the central question should no longer be simply how cheaply food can be imported.
It should also be how much control we want over the food our population depends on every day.
Because genuine food security is not merely knowing that our supermarkets will have enough food tomorrow.
It is also knowing where that food comes from, how it was produced, whether it is safe and nutritious, and whether Curaçao and its Caribbean neighbors are building the capacity to feed more of their own people.
That is the food security Curaçao should be working toward.