Food galore at roofless Charles Gordon Market
Published:Monday | November 10, 2025 | 12:33 AM
Western Bureau:
The fear that there would be a shortage of farm produce at the Charles Gordon Market in Montego Bay, St James, over last weekend amid the destruction Hurricane Melissa wreaked in the premier farming belt – St Elizabeth, Trelawny and south St James – proved unfounded as there was an abundance of farm produce, albeit at inflated prices.
With the vendors, who normally operate inside the market, as required by St James Municipal Corporation regulation, joining the higglers on the streets outside the market, the entire market circle took on the look of the annual agricultural show in Denbigh, Clarendon, where farmers generally put their best produce on display.
There was an abundance of yams, green and ripe bananas, plantains, melons, cucumbers, scallion, carrots, pumpkin, tomatoes, sweet peppers, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, pineapples, grapes and American apples. The stalls, which were mostly covered with blue tarpaulin to protect the sellers from the elements – sun and rain – gave them a festive backdrop for the bargaining for best prices between those sellers and buyers.
“We are having a glut now; the produce you are seeing is what the farmers managed to salvage from their fields after the hurricane,” said Trelawny yam seller Tesha Davis. “I believe things are going to get difficult in the weeks to come when this supply runs out because, without a source of storage, things are gradually going to spoil.
As The Gleaner walked through the crowded market, there was a constant hum as buyers and sellers argue over price, the former complaining about the significant hike in prices since the hurricane, and the latter countering by referencing the increased cost of transportation and other fees.
“Right now, me nuh live no weh because mi house get blow down, so mi nuh have time fe argue over yam price,” said a defiant Davis, as she defended the price of her yam. “It is $500 a pound, tek it or leave it, same such.”
Nickeisha Campbell, whose Maroon Town, St James house was wiped out of existence by Melissa, said she was in the market selling but her mind was elsewhere, as she contemplates another night of sleeping under a raised tarpaulin, which is for now her home.
REASONABLE PRICING
“I am trying to be as reasonable as possible with my prices, because everybody get damage by Melissa,” she said. “Mi have mi regular customer dem, who are like mi friends because they are always supporting me, so mi couldn’t just look inna dem eyes and jack up the price pon dem. Mi just have to do the best mi can for dem.”
However, with a pound of scallion – $1,000; a pound of carrot, $400; a pound of cabbage, $400; a small bunch of bananas, $1,500; a finger of ripe plantain, $200; a pound of melon,-$500; one hand of ripe bananas, $500; and American apples and grapes attracting prices above $300, many buyers were clearly not happy.
One woman, who regularly shops inside the market because the vendors tend to be less expensive that the higglers, said she was disappointed with the vendors, who have jacked up their prices to match the higglers’.
“Why unoo so wicked, unoo have no conscience; unoo double the price of everything. We are people just like you, we are also suffering from hurricane damage,” said a woman, as she desperately tried to get a vendor to lower the price for pumpkin. “My workplace is closed because it was severely damaged, so I am now out of work and still have bills to pay, and I must also feed myself.”
However, the nonchalant female vendor would not budge, making it quite clear that she was not running a charity, and suggesting to the buyer that she make contact with the Government, Vybz Kartel, Spice, Sean Paul or Shaggy; or, going forward, adopt the story of Joseph in the Bible, who stored food in the time of plenty, so as not to go hungry in the time of famine.
“Urge yu Government fe build storage areas so that when we have plenty, we can store up for times like these,” she said. “We need fe do what Joseph did in the Bible,” she said. “We have too much fertile farmlands in Jamaica to be running out of farm food in just two [or] three weeks after a disaster.”