We arrived in Fort-De-France, Martinique, on the eve of the celebrations marking the end of the month-long strike. As the city prepared for the waterfront festivities, many restaurants remained closed due to lack of supplies and the city center lacked its usual noise and activity. Our hotel was serving only a limited menu and to the chagrin of some of our students, the local McDonalds (yes, there is one in Fort-de-France, known locally as McDo) opened at 6pm and was not serving hamburgers.
More seriously, supermarket shelves remained bare and access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats had been seriously compromised. The strike had underscored Martinique’s lack of food security. The island imports 98% of the food its population consumes and a reduction in the high prices of food (calculated at about 30% more than in metropolitan France) was one of the central demands of strikers.
For a discussion of food insecurity in Martinique, see the documentary film Landscape and Memory: Martinican Land-People-History, produced by Renée Gosson and Eric Faden. For information on the film go to: http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/french/landscape_memory/
