Determining Per Capita Consumption of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) for Adults in St. Vincent & the Grenadines

The generalization that the consumption of "Roots and Tubers" (R&T) is on the decline in the Caribbean is widespread. However, little data exist for the empirical testing of this generalization. This study reports the findings from a survey on the consumption of sweet potato in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in January 2003. A 76 percent response rate generated a sample size of 227 that permitted the estimation of the adult annual per capita consumption of 29.03 lb. The hypothesis that urban people consume less R&T than rural people was tested. Of the 227 respondents that permitted the calculation of the annual per capita consumption, 204 permitted the distinction between rural and urban to be made. The annual per capita sweet potato consumption was estimated at 28.22 lb and 34.03 lb for the rural and urban sub-samples, respectively. No statistical support was found in this study for the notion that urban dwellers consumed fewer sweet potatoes than rural consumers.