Dr Dunstan Campbell, the Food and Agriculture Organisation's representative in Jamaica, The Bahamas and Belize, gave us something to chew over in yesterday's Gleaner.

As far as words of wisdom on increased food production go, Dr Campbell's advice was at best a reheat as we have heard them before, but as these matters tend to go, impact depends not only on the importance of what is being said, but also the importance of who says it.

So while calls for increased food production to offset the rising food prices are nothing new, it is very significant that Dr Campbell said, "We cannot just give up. Produce more in the livestock sector and in the root- crop sector, such as yams, Irish and sweet potatoes."

It was also noted in the article that the 1996 Agricultural Census of Jamaica stated that only some 273,000 hectares of the 449,493 hectares of farmland in Jamaica were being utilised, although by casual observation it would appear that an even higher proportion of potentially high-yield acreage is lying idle. In addition, some has been turned over to housing, notably in the areas of St Catherine along Highway 2000.

The urging to produce more food is, of course, practical and admirable. However, before we return to our agricultural roots, it is imperative that we examine the routes by which we have become so disenchanted with food production in the first place. And we will not even attempt to assess the psychological impact of slavery and the mental distancing from the plantation, although the ex-slaves who did manage to get away engaged in small-scale farming on marginal, hilly land.

There is the matter of the large-scale urbanisation of Jamaica, one of the ludicrous consequences being the number of persons crammed into inner-city communities who have roots in rural farming communities where there is space to grow in more ways than one. Then, there is the way in which farming is seen as a pursuit for old men in waterboots and banana-stained khakis, sporting a cutlass in a crocus bag and grubby fingernails; this despite the existence of huge food production concerns such as Jamaica Broilers and Tru-Juice, whose more technological approach can be imitated in parts on a much smaller scale.

Added to this is the unfortunate tendency to see imported goods and services - including food - as inherently superior to those originating in Jamaica, as well as the perennial class concerns, which condemn as menial labour putting hands into the soil to do other than light gardening.

Of course, these attitudes are not universal, but are widespread enough to make us extremely vulnerable to rising food prices worldwide.

So getting a high proportion of Jamaicans to grow food in the first place and then actually consume what is produced here is going to take a massive mental repositioning of agricultural production as well as self-perception. In light of the potential savings in expenditure on food, an investment in a media campaign as well as on the ground to position agriculture on a medium to small scale, as well as kitchen gardening, as desirable and respectable would not be wasted.

In addition, too, more effort would have to be made to restrict praedial larceny. After all, the benefits of tilling the soil must accrue to those who actually sow, not those who only reap.