The Cabinet-appointed National Food Security Committee (NFSC) has started developing a comprehensive Food Security Plan for Grenada. The Committee, chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Gemma Bain-Thomas, has representation from the public and private sectors and non-governmental organizations. The NFSC has agreed on the elements of a comprehensive plan to improve Grenada’s food security. These include Identifying and promoting supportive economic and trade policies that would have an impact on food security, Increasing domestic agricultural production and productivity and Encouraging increased consumption and use of domestic agricultural produce. Caribbean Net News understands that the committee is also recommending assisting poor urban and rural households to make better food choices, minimize food expenditures and improve nutritional quality, and developing and implementing a storage policy for imported and domestic staple food items. The National Food Security Committee will present a plan, following broad-based consultations with stakeholders, to the Minister of Agriculture, Michael Lett and Cabinet by the end of the first quarter of 2009. The Food and Agricultural Program of the United Nations is assisting the Ministry of Agriculture with implement of a program aimed at addressing the soaring cost of living and food security. Under this project initiative it is expected that more than one thousand small farmers, single headed households and schools will benefit. Efforts will be made to target areas characterized by high incidence of poverty and low income groups in rural and urban communities most affected by high food prices. The project will be launched later this month. Reprinted from Caribbean Net News caribbeannetnews.com