Saint Lucians are being encouraged to rethink what goes onto their plates, with health officials emphasizing that traditional Caribbean foods can play a vital role in preventing chronic illnesses and promoting overall well-being.
The message forms part of activities marking Nutrition Awareness Month 2026, as the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Nutrition continues its campaign to encourage healthier lifestyles under the theme, “Healthy Eating, Active Living: Promoting Caribbean Foods as Medicine.”
Chief Nutritionist Lisa Hunte, in a statement made last week, said many of the foods that have long been part of the Caribbean diet possess significant nutritional benefits that are often overlooked.
“They have our vegetables, our fruits, our local fish, our peas and beans, and our provisions have certain substances, for example, resistant starch, which helps with gut health,” Hunte explained.
She noted that traditional Caribbean ingredients can help reduce the risk of developing non-communicable diseases, which continue to place a heavy burden on the healthcare system.
“So, we have foods in the Caribbean that helps to prevent non-communicable diseases, and that’s basically what it says,” she said.
Non-communicable diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and certain cancers, remain among the leading causes of illness and death in Saint Lucia and across the region.
Hunte encouraged consumers to become more intentional about their food choices, beginning with proper meal planning before they enter the supermarket.
“Sometimes we go shopping and we don’t think of what it is that we’re going to store to buy, but if we have a shopping list, you know, okay, tonight I am preparing a healthy wrap, so you go into the store, you purchase the things that you need for that wrap,” she said.
Without a plan, she warned, shoppers often purchase foods based on convenience rather than nutritional value.
“But if you just go and just purchase, you end up buying, and it happens to all of us, we end up buying what we don’t need and we end up buying things that are convenient,” Hunte noted.
She stressed that simple steps, such as deciding in advance what meals will be prepared, can make healthy eating more achievable.
“But if we plan ahead and know exactly what we want to prepare, we want to eat healthy, know what we are going to put on that plate,” she said.
As Saint Lucia observes Nutrition Awareness Month, health officials are reminding the public that improving dietary habits does not necessarily require expensive imported products or drastic lifestyle changes. Instead, they say the answer may already be found in the region’s rich culinary heritage, where locally grown fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and provisions can serve as some of the most effective tools in the fight against chronic disease.