Cuba's Second Revolution

[chlamor]

Cuba's Second Revolution
By Will Raap, Founder and Chairman of Gardener's Supply


For several years I have been hearing about another revolution in Cuba. This time it involved farming and the food system. For much of the 1990's small organic farms were providing increasing amounts of Cuba's food. They were responding to the economic emergency of 1989-90 when the Soviet bloc began collapsing and Cuba lost its main source of foreign exchange and half of the food its 11 million citizens relied on.

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Outside of Havana the Organiponico movement is also growing rapidly with impressive results. In 1999 urban agriculture produced 46% of Cuba’s fresh vegetables, 38% of non-citrus fruit, and 13% of its roots and tubers. The government supports this movement by making land available, by allowing relatively unrestricted free-market sales of the food (a market economy is being born!), and by supporting organic research centers that are making impressive advances in biofertilizers and biopesticides. Cuba leads the developing world in small-scale composting, organic soil reclamation, irrigation and crop rotation research, animal powered traction (oxen) and other innovative practices.

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All the food from this garden is donated to the elderly and poor in the area, assuring that they get 3 good meals a day. I stayed for hours learning about Enrico’s approaches to biological pest control and companion planting, use of beets to absorb excess salt in the soil, use of mustard greens to guide soil fertility improvement, and more.

Urban agriculture in Cuba offers a powerful alternative for feeding the growing urban populations in developing countries. The lessons are many. They are blending traditional growing methods with new, science-based approaches to soil improvement and natural pest control. Land is made available for growing because the value of high-quality locally-grown food is understood. The result is every vacant lot and open piece of ground is put to productive (and beautiful) use. Farmers are encouraged to sell directly to consumers so they have the financial incentive to grow more and produce it more efficiently.

http://www.gardeners.com/gardening/content.asp?copy_id=5039

[blindpig]

1. many lessons to be learned from Cuba

In agriculture, transportation and societal organization they are ahead of the curve in regards to what is required for the Peak Oil/Climate Change future that we have made for ourselves. I suspect that Cuba will maintain a civil society when we devolve into feudalism.

[Hand]

2. Oxcarts are all over Cuba

When we visited some years ago, we saw oxcarts in sugar cane fields, being used as local (and rather leisurely) mass transit, and just generally hauling stuff around. They were even used on the main highway. Traffic in Cuba is surreal--1950s cars, big smoke-belching diesel trucks, bicycles, oxcarts, donkeys, Russian motorcycles with sidecars, you name it, all on the same road. Fascinating place!
:toast:

[Judi Lynn]

3. Beautiful article. They've had so far to go, too.

It was as recently as the 1950's that Cuba has been used in producing tobacco, sugar cane, etc. all destined for luxury items by consumers in America, and Europe and elsewhere, and these crops crowded out any chance of raising adequate food for Cubans, leaving them to have to import almost everything.

The profits flew right out of the country, as well, leaving only a small very wealthy elite, and a vast majority of very poor seasonal workers, who descended from the original slaves imported to do any actual work to make profits possible for their Spanish "owners."

I'll bet you wouldn't be able to bribe the ordinary Cuban citizens enough to revert to their past patterns of poverty and helplessness. They know how far they've come in only 46 years.