Chicken Merry…Christmas comes early in Portmore
- suzettecampbell
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
The empty shelves in the refrigerator told the story of a foodless home as one Tik Toker celebrated his catch of Brazilian brand Perdix chickens from the container which fell from a ship and docked in Hellshire, Portmore recently. The now fully stocked freezer was in stark contrast to the empty refrigerator section. For concerned authorities, health experts and ordinary citizens, it is a recipe for disaster. But for the residents who took the chickens, Christmas has come early.
Since the emergence of video footage of residents clearing the container, several health experts have been seen in various media outlets advising against consumption of the chickens with warnings about the possibility of outbreaks and salmonella or other infections.
What is Salmonella?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Salmonella are bacteria (germs) that can make people sick with an illness called salmonellosis. Salmonella are a leading cause of foodborne illness, hospitalisations, and deaths in the United States and worldwide.
The CDC explains that warmer weather and unrefrigerated foods create ideal conditions for Salmonella to grow, and advises to promptly refrigerate or freeze perishables (foods likely to spoil or go bad quickly), prepared foods, and leftovers.
Further, chicken is a major source of Salmonella infection. In fact, more than 1 in every 25 packages of chicken at the grocery store is contaminated with Salmonella.
Symptoms of Salmonella Infection
Most people with Salmonella infection have:
Watery diarrhoea that might have blood or mucus
Stomach cramps that can be severe
Headache
Nausea
Vomiting
Loss of appetite (not feeling hungry)
The CDC says symptoms usually start 6 hours to 6 days after infection and usually last 4 to 7 days. However, sometimes, Salmonella infection can spread to urine, blood, bones, joints, the brain, or other internal organs, causing symptoms related to that body part or system.
Who can get a Salmonella infection?
Anyone. But these persons have an increased chance of infection:
Children who are younger than 5 years (and especially children who are younger than 1 year)
Adults who are 50 years and older with underlying medical problems, such as heart disease
Adults who are 65 and older
People who have a weakened immune system
International travellers
How is Salmonella treated?
The CDC recommends persons experiencing diarrhoea should drink lots of fluids to prevent dehydration. Most people get better without using antibiotics. Antibiotics are sometimes used to treat severe intestinal illness. They also are sometimes used to treat people at risk for severe illness. But the good news is that most people with Salmonella infection recover without needing to take antibiotics.
Considering that chicken is a major source of Salmonella infection, coupled with warm weather experienced in the Caribbean, one can understand the grave concern being expressed by the authorities and ordinary citizens. One social media commenter remarked that “there are no hospital beds available” in the event of an outbreak.
Free Fowl - No Fs Given
By all accounts on social media and news reports, the residents along Hellshire Hills, and other places in Portmore are unfazed by the threat of Salmonella, declaring that they took frozen chickens from the container and have been basking in cooking and sales. In one Tik Tok video, residents can be heard in the background shouting “Chicken fi months, not days!”
The online videos are many, and as Jamaicans are some of the most ‘unserious’ people in the world, the narrative is hilarious. One can never get bored in this country, as there is never a dull moment.
Food Security and Food Inflation
‘Fun and joke aside’, the chicken container situation sheds light on the deeper issue of food security and food inflation. It is no secret that the cost of living in Jamaica is high, and many Jamaicans cannot afford a healthy diet, particularly protein like chicken which is often reserved for Sunday dinner. For those who earn lower wages, the cost of chicken is out of their reach when it is sold on average $350 per pound. That means, a whole chicken weighing approximately 4 pounds will cost $1400. Considering that one chicken doesn’t go very far in a household of multiple family members, we can decipher the difficulty by doing the math for a weekly supply of chicken, let alone monthly.
According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaican (STATIN), the cost of food in Jamaica increased 6.57% in February of 2025 over the same month in the previous year. Amid food inflation, persons will be spending a significant portion of their income on food alone, leaving little for other necessities.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with several partner organisations, recently released the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition. The report revealed that 55.1% of Jamaica’s population experienced moderate to severe food insecurity for the period 2021-2023, and 22.1% of Jamaicans were unable to afford a healthy diet in 2022.
The report also stated that Jamaica has one of the highest costs of a healthy diet in the region, estimated at 6.42 purchasing power parity (PPP) dollars per person per day in 2022. The FAO uses PPP dollars to measure the cost of healthy diets and the hidden costs of agrifood systems.
We can recall the exceptionally high prices of vegetables and other ground provision in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in 2024. The situation left consumers across several income brackets struggling to maintain a balanced diet. Thankfully, the prices have now been reduced.
If a container of vegetables were to happen across Jamaican shores, the reaction might be similar albeit not equating to the ‘free fowl frenzy’. The truth is, much like protein, fruits and vegetables are often found on the luxury list of grocery items in Jamaica. Interestingly, veggies are at times used not to create a balanced meal, but rather to ‘stretch’ the protein. So, you toss some carrots or cabbage in the stew chicken, for example. In a conversation about the high cost of chicken, someone joked about the carrots being more than the chicken in the stew. Speaking of stew, one may also double down on the red peas in a stew peas dish. The recipes are endless, and Jamaica with a rich culinary culture, has the right environment for creativity to thrive in the kitchen. Indeed, Jamaicans are resilient, so starvation may be a long way off. But with a prevalence of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, it is high time that this country takes a hard look at food security and how things can be easier for consumers. Food, after all, is a basic necessity. Chicken is a basic food item.
The global tariff war is teaching us once more to become more resilient. Jamaica imports US$23 million in chicken neck and back, close to US$13 million in beef offals, beef trimmings US$16 million, and rice US$84 million annually.
So, while some Jamaicans online have expressed shame and admonished the Portmore residents who emptied the container of chicken, an objective look at their reality might reveal why they were willing to risk it all.
To them, that container could feel like an early Christmas gift. But there is a popular Jamaican saying, “Chicken merry, hawk de near”, which means that as you enjoy yourself, you should be mindful of danger. I hope these Portmore residents will be ok.
But as a girl who grew up in the parish of St. Catherine, I must say, Linstead folks would never! Parish class perhaps? LOL!
Time will tell whether the chickens will come home to roost or these residents got a well-needed boost.
I Am Suzette Campbell
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