Cabinet addresses high cost of living and healthy eating in last meeting

 Cabinet met earlier this and examined several issues, one of which is the cost of living. This week’s brief says that Prime Minister John Briceno and his ministers discussed at length the global issue of inflation which has increased supply costs and, subsequently, the cost of goods and services locally. Cabinet will now convene a sub-committee chaired by Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise Jose Abelardo Mai to do two things: first, explore a short-term framework to alleviate the impacts on those most affected and second, explore any angles, including legal, to put an end to price gouging.  As we said yesterday, Cabinet welcomed the offer from the Joint Unions to assemble a team that will actively assist with monitoring processes in stores to detect instances of price gouging. On the health and education front, Cabinet gave its support to a joint undertaking between the Ministry of Health & Wellness and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology, to promote healthy foods in schools in Belize. This week’s brief says that this effort will respond to quote, “the escalating health issues brought about by the availability of unhealthy food options for schoolchildren and adolescents. This may result in the gradual banning of unhealthy foods and sugar-sweetened beverages in our schools.” End quote.