James Paul, CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) at the recent Agrofest 2017 Food Vendors Workshop which was held at the Dining Club.

VENDORS CAUTIONED

Fri, 01/20/2017 - 12:00am

Proper preparation of food a must for Agrofest 2017

James Paul, CEO of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) is taking a firm approach when it comes to keeping up standards when dealings with food preparation at Agrofest.

In his strong message to participants at Agrofest yesterday at the Agrofest 2017 Food Vendors Workshop which was held at The Dining Club, he told the audience of exhibitors that it is their responsibility to ensure that they continue to do what is right.

Paul revealed that to “date we have had no one indicating that they had any cases of food poisoning at Agrofest and we want to keep it that way”.

“We can only keep it that way if we continue to do what we are supposed to do. We live in a society today that we make excuses for any type of delinquent behaviour possible and when people don’t want to obey the rules we make reasons why they should not obey the rules, rather than saying to them get with it and obey the rules, because if you don’t you are jeopardising persons future and lives,” it was explained.

“I know that you would not want a situation that you go to an event and you eat food and then you have to go to a hospital. Therefore we are asking [you] to do simple things that the food you sell is properly prepared and you have a safe environment and we will not compromise on our standards,” Paul urged.

He continued, “We are asking for all participants’ co-operation because we want no incidents of food poisoning at Agrofest at all. I want to emphasise it makes no sense coming to the secretariat complaining about any procedures that the Ministry of Health have implemented, we find no sympathy in this area because we want all of our exhibitors to comply, because if you don’t, you are jeopardising someone’s health.”

The BAS CEO maintained that responsibility had to go with food preparation and that vendors should be very conscious of that. “I am encouraging you to recognise that when you prepare food you have that responsibility of others lives’ in your hands and we will not compromise on the standards. We will not compromise on what the Ministry of Health is saying to you. We have a habit now in trying to have a good time we sacrifice quality and standards, we cannot do that. I am asking all of you to recognise that you have that responsibility and at the secretariat we also have a responsibility to ensure you have a pleasant experience,” it was further stated.

Paul added that, “AgroFest is just a few week [away] and we are busy in preparation to ensure that the experience of Agrofest is one that is pleasant for the exhibitors and one that we make sure people come back. We want to ensure we have a secure environment at Agrofest, we also will put in place certain measures to ensure another successful event. AgroFest is a family event and we cater to all ages and therefore we cannot have a situation with reckless behaviour in the park, I want to remind the public we do not tolerate any smoking in the park.”

Agrofest 2017 is under the theme “Agriculture – 50 years and Beyond” and will be held from February 24 to 26th at Queens Park.

VENDORS CAUTIONED

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