Planning
an Easter Egg hunt with coloured Easter Eggs as described in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “How
to Dye Bright Glow-in-the-Dark Easter Eggs to go with your Easter Bun?”
You
may have to rethink your plans for the little ones as there is a coming Chicken
Shortage, which means Egg shells may also be in short supply.
Remember
in my article on Chikungunya Death entitled “Jamaican
Chikungunya Outbreak possible – Why H1N1 Outbreak in Jamaica possible as 1,731
die in India from H1N1 Outbreak” where the Canadian Government via their
Public Health Agency of Canada had warned their Canadian Citizens not to travel
to the Caribbean as the Chikungunya outbreak is not yet over?
 |
Well,
it looks like the Veterinary Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture
here in Jamaica has now issued a ban on imported Chicken from both Canada and
the US of A out of fears of avian influenza Virus or H5N2 coming to Jamaica as
reported in the article “Jamaica
Bans Importation Of Poultry And Poultry Products From North America”,
Published Thursday March 19, 2015, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
This
ban took effect on Friday March 12th 2015 as stated in the article “Jamaica
Bans Poultry Imports From Parts Of US, Canada”, Published Friday March 20,
2015 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica
Gleaner in a bid to protect our local Chicken Industry.
H5N2
is now known to infect humans and is often confused with H1N1, a strain of the Influenza Virus also referred to
as Swine flu now ravaging as stated in the article “India
In just 3 months, swine flu deaths surpass worst annual toll”, published
March 26, 2015 by Chaitanya Mallapurm, Business Standard infecting some
32,663 people in India and killing 1,947 since the start of 2015.
Another
Chicken and Egg Shortage like last year in from January 2014? I’ll explain the
details!
Ministry of Agriculture
bans US and Canadian Chicken Products – Anything Chicken incinerated against
Avian Flu
Somehow
I fail to see the significance of this; I’ve stopped eating Chicken a long time
ago now that I’m doing my Professional Diploma in Teaching at the MICO University College as evidenced
from my blog
article entitled “Cooking Restart at
MICO - How to Cook a Meal in under 30 minutes and make Drinks with Bag Juice”.
But
the meat eaters are concerned, so my article is really obligatory, not to
mention whetting the appétite of my readers for a little local action on my
blog.
According
to the article “Jamaica
Bans Poultry Imports From Parts Of US, Canada”, Published Friday March 20,
2015 by Tameka Gordon, The Jamaica
Gleaner, the Ministry of Agriculture is banning the following Chicken
related products:
1.
By-products not fully cooked
2.
Feathers
3.
Hatching eggs
4.
Live birds
5.
Offal i.e. internal organs including
entrails from within the Chickens
6.
Poultry
7.
Poultry products whether raw, chilled,
fresh or frozen
8.
Powdered Egg yolks and Egg whites
9.
Raw pet foods containing Poultry
The
Specific areas from the US of A and Canada where the products are being banned
are as follows:
1.
Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota,
California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington in the USA
2.
British Columbia in Canada
This
is clearly very serious; the Ministry of Agriculture, possibly with assistance
from the Public Health Department from the Ministry of Health, has already made
plans to incinerate any Poultry and Poultry products (aka Chicken) coming from
the USA and Canada as noted in “Brace
For Chicken Shortage Amid Ban On Some Imports – Producers”, Published
Friday March 20, 2015, The Jamaica
Gleaner.
This
has prompted Poultry producers to warn Jamaican consumers of the possibility of
a Chicken Shortage.
Shadows of the Chicken
Back Shortage of 2014 - Egg and Chicken Shortage during Easter
This
coming Chicken Shortage is very similar to the Chicken Back Shortage of August
2014 which saw Jamaican putting Crocodiles and even mongoose on the menu to
satisfy our lust for meat as reported in my blog article
entitled “Jamaicans
now Eating Sly Mongoose as Chicken Back shortage Gets closer to Christmas -
Family and Community Gardens needed to Grow what we Eat and reduce Food Import
Bill”.
They've
also activated a National Emergency Animal Disease Committee to get themselves
ready to handle any possible outbreak of avian influenza or bird flu among the
Animal population. This committee involves:
1.
Ministry of Health
2.
Jamaica Customs Agency
3.
Poultry Industry Producers
They
also plan to reach out to small-scale Poultry operators, Egg farmers, pet bird
owners and pet stores, basically anyone who wants to import live Chickens and
eggs for breeding purposes to make sure they achieve compliance.
After
all, we're STILL experiencing an Egg Shortage since January 2014 that has
basically lasted all of that year due to increasing demand as a Meat
replacement and declining supply from local Egg Farmers as explained in my blog article
entitled “Egg
Shortage in Jamaica set to continue to March 2014 - Poor Agricultural Planning
to blame as Cheap Meat shortages forcing many to become Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians”.
But
if this is as bad as it sounds, we may also be looking at an increase in baked
goods that use eggs, such as Cakes, Puddings and Easter Bun, a staple during
Easter and further on into the year! Chicken we can live without, as other forms
of meat exist; Eggs will be sorta tough to replace!
These
measures mean that major players in the Poultry Industry cannot import powdered
eggs albeit they can switch to powdered Egg Substitutes like Hampton Creek
Foods Egg Replacement made from blended organic plant proteins and spices as
explained in my blog
article entitled “CPJ's
Liquid Eggs Limited Jamaican Egg Shortage - How Imported Eggs from Hampton
Creek Foods may alleviate Egg Shortage in December 2014”.
So
Easter Eggs with your Festival and Fry fish? You may have to skip Eggs and Chicken.
Then again, it’s the Season of Lent; you can do without it. It’s after Easter
that the meat eaters in Jamaica have to worry about!
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