Yonette McPherson typifies the dogged determination of the thousands of Guyanese comprising the agro-processing community, whose pursuits are shaped, mostly, by a necessity to make a living that is both honest and adequate. The challenge is many times greater in a country where – unlike elsewhere in the hemisphere – attention to agro processing is limited mostly to such efforts as are made in domestic kitchens, the critical shortcoming being the failure to invest in equipment that would make the task of turning agro produce into pickles, jams, sauces and other condiments easier.
These days, Yonette has ‘graduated,’ she from vending cooked food in Beterverwagting ten years ago, to becoming a genuine agro processor though she admits that her processing is still to go beyond a kitchen specially configured for the purpose.
Eat to Live, the name of her registered business, specializes in a range of achars utilizing gooseberry, tamarind, sweet mango and golden apple in addition to which she also produces ground seasoning and pepper sauce. It is a journey that has consumed the 43 year-old mother of five, imbuing her with an enlightening perspective on the manufacturing sector, its weaknesses and its prospects.
