Chapter 2

 FOOD EXPENDITURE IN JAMAICA IN 1958: SURVEY RESULTS

 Details of the expenditure on food recorded in the Jamaica survey are summarised in
Table 3.2.i. Before discussing the elasticity estimates derived by the methods outlined
above, attention may be drawn to certain features of the food expenditure pattern as re-
vealed by these figures.

 The most striking feature is the large difference in average expenditure between the
urban and rural groups of households. The Kingston families spent about 2 1/2 times as
much on food per capital as the rural families, and on fresh meat and fish, and milk pro-
ducts and eggs their rate of expenditure was about three times that of the rural families.

 Part of this very large difference is explained by the variation in household size and
composition, the rural families being much larger and including a much larger proportion
of children than the urban households. This factor, however, can be allowed for by com-
paring only rural and urban households of identical composition in the special elasticity
analysis (see Table 3.2.ii). When the comparison is made on this basis the total food ex-
penditure of the rural families rises to about half the Kingston rate and there are roughly
corresponding changes in the averages for individual food groups. It is noteworthy that
when households of identical composition are compared the Kingston rate of expenditure
on roots and starchy vegetables is lower than that of the rural households.

 A further part of the total difference is explained by differences in price levels between
the two areas, Kingston prices being generally higher, though the price records on which
this statement is based (which were made available by the Jamaica Department of Statis-
tics) show that there are some products, especially imported items, which are at times
cheaper in Kingston than elsewhere on the island. The food groups mentioned above as
showing the greatest relative difference in expenditure levels are also those for which the
difference in price levels seems to have been greatest. The difference in prices amounted
to perhaps 20 to 30 percent for fresh meat and fish and possibly to somewhat more for
fresh fruit and vegetables (other than roots and starchy vegetables). Fresh milk was sub-
stantially more costly in Kingston than elsewhere and there was a similar though smaller
difference in the price of eggs. Many foods however were (and are) subject in Jamaica to
official price-control orders, and these (which include condensed milk, butter and cheese)
are practically always sold at uniform prices throughout the island.

 It is clear, therefore, that when allowance is made for both these factors, much the
greater part of the difference in expenditure levels remains unaccounted for and reflects
a genuine quantitative difference in consumption. In many respects indeed, the two groups