Hi, my name is Tracey, and I’m from Jamaica, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) surrounded by the beautiful Caribbean Sea.

One thing I absolutely adore about my island is the incredible variety of fresh fruits and vegetables available year-round at affordable prices. We have so many different types of the same fruits, especially mangoes! My favorite is the Julie mango – I even love eating the skin! Call me crazy, but it’s true. It is medicine. It’s an amazing experience to hand pick my foods fresh from the market. My favorite time to visit the market is between Thursday and Saturday. I love the display of colours. The way the vendors arrange the plump, fat juicy fruits and vegetables, among other foods like provisions is a spectacular scene; we see them in their bright shiny reds, yellows, purples, greens and browns. When it’s a good season, and the leafy vegetables are glossy among the big, ripe tomatoes, the beetroots are large and sumptuous, and the plantains are deliciously doubled in size, I like to say the market is “ripe and fat today.”

However, this wonderful reality is changing because of climate change. The foods I cherish are being threatened by persistent dry periods, extremely hot days and nights, heavy rainfalls, and more intense storms. Unfortunately, this thing I love is not a privilege for me. Access to a variety of foods is a necessity. As a Type One Diabetic its a preservation of my life, health and wellbeing.

Recently, in June of last year, Beryl, a powerful Category 4 Hurricane, made landfall in Jamaica, ripping through the southern coast, including my home parish, Clarendon. It left devastation everywhere. While my home wasn’t damaged, I remember how the mangoes and breadfruits fell like leaves to the ground. Whatever fruits remained were so battered they were no good. It was an islandwide crisis. The market became sad and looked just as bruised as my fallen mangoes, prices soared, and I resorted to the bare necessity. At times, imported fruits became my only option. It was almost a year later, May of 2025 when market produce fell to affordable levels and the fatness returned. 

 

I do not anticipate a disruptive season this year. I’ve grown weary of these threats. I do not want to face the next hurricane, nor the risky alternatives to survival.  A person living with diabetes can easily become a statistic. These crises are preventable.

Something I’m doing to increase resilience among my community is sharing, giving voice to the voiceless. But, there is very little conversation about climate change and extremely vulnerable people. We need more voices, so my community can thrive. 

Something we need to help us achieve this goal is more stories, more me too, and increased pressure on our leaders to adapt policies that can make a real difference for vulnerable groups who depend on surety and security to thrive. Food security should not be a privilege, it is a right. 

So, perhaps my story is your story, so join our movement, draw the line for climate justice.