Reflections on Cuba (Part One): land without billboards

The complete lack of advertising (besides political murals and slogans) as we bounced along the highways and back roads of the western end of Cuba during our 10 day acroecology tour in May was just one of the very positive differences between Cuba and the United States that I sincerely miss since I returned.

Ostensibly, I chose to participate in a Food First/Food Sovereignty Tour  because I've always had a strong desire to visit Cuba particularly after viewing "Power of Community," the video that introduced me to the urban gardening manifesto of the early 1990's. As a person who researches and writes about ways to end hunger, I realized Cuba is THE place on the planet to experience some of the best examples of organic food-growing systems at various levels of production.

It may take several posts to cover all that I saw and heard. I'm still digesting so much. I have hours of audio from our meetings with farmers, agronomists, agriculture experts, educators plus our amazing guide and translator. Spending time with family in New Mexico's summer heat has me dreaming of the white sand beaches in Cuba where we enjoyed not a few gorgeous sunsets and some not-so-weak mojitos. There was something to smile about every day in Cuba. The people smiled with us, laughed with us and enjoyed sharing what they knew, answering our questions however strange they sounded, and were proud to show us what they had accomplished in their particular locale. And what they have accomplished is nothing short of miraculous. I only wish our politicians weren't so pigheaded about the embargo....a 52 years embargo...that not only has failed to bring Cuba to its knees (as many hoped) but fails to bring to the United States a new and anxious trading partner just 90 short miles away.

The picture postcard town of Vinales beneath the 'mogotes'

While Cuba may not reflect a standard of living we might consider consistent with a wealthy westernized country, this island nation does provide for its people in ways we only talk about and which our government fights against: 1) all Cubans have some form of housing, simple or rustic though it may be; 2) all Cubans are guaranteed a free education through post-doctorate studies (and has a 100% literacy rate);  3) all Cubans have access not only to free medical care but high quality medical care. Many countries around the world send their medical students TO Cuba because of its outstanding reputation in medicine. In other words, the government provides for what it believes are the foundations for a nation to survive and has placed access to food at the top of the list. Because food is seen as a national security issue, Cuba has consistently altered its government policies to improve the way it feeds its people. Unlike most other countries where farmers are dying to have land, in Cuba there is abundant land available but not enough farmers! Anyone can sign on for up to 33 acres of land in usufruct for 10 years and renewable for up to 25. The catch? You must make them immediately productive. Some refer to this as "repeasantization" of the land and gives anyone with the stamina, the resources and knowledge the ability to have her or his parcel of land to farm. For free.

Cuba is much, much more than its very famous capital city of Havana and many have written about this lively and historic port on the northwest coast of the island. For me, it was spending the days visiting the farmers, members of the agricultural cooperatives and the innovators (like Vilda and Jose from Havana bringing the ideas of food preservation to Cuban households or Hector's finca where farming is an artistic extension of his sculpture garden and ceramics production) that excited me.

What deeply impressed me from farm to farm, was observing how the model of cooperation, deeply entrenched in socialism, has served Cuba well for many decades. There are many levels of training, resource sharing, and government research and information available, as well as support from other farmers, to help farmers succeed in their profession, part of the Campesino-to-Campesino movement brought to Cuba in the 1990's and now a foundation of the work of ANAP, the National Association of Small Scale (Peasant) Farmers in Cuba.

And the food! Each day's lunch built on the previous until I couldn't imagine we could sample or consume another amazing morsel of locally grown, organic, native food.

At the vegetarian restaurant  El Romero in Las Terazas

To truly understand Cuba's current agricultural accomplishments, it is important to comprehend what Cuban's call "The Special Period." What evolved from that crisis in the early 1990's fueled another revolution in food production that is now studied by food producers, agronomists, social scientists and farmers all around the world. This critical moment in history requires more than a short paragraph at the end of this blog so stay tuned for that and more photos next time!

Until then check out the video "Power of Community" on youtube, a documentary describing the Cuban Special Period and its relationship to a post-peak oil society. Now, for a mojito.....

5 days to Cuba!

In just under a week, I and 13 other participants will be taking that infamous 90 mile trip between the United States and Havana, Cuba. Yes, it's possible for educational purposes like this one through Oakland-based Institute for Food and Development Policy, more commonly known as Food First. For me, it's a dream come true. As part of an agroecology tour, I will experience what I have only read about until now: the transition from a petroleum-dependent, monoculture form of industrial agriculture to state-sanctioned and supported rural cooperative, independent farms, and urban organic growing systems feeding cities. Because Cuban policies are predicated on the belief that food security is national security, meaning every person has the right to be fed, this change required a complete reversal of food growing systems--in only a few short years know as "The Special Period."  It is a model that people from all over the world come to experience, to assess, to learn. It's doubly exciting for me since the process of this transition in urban and rural Cuba inspired and informed the research for my book, simply garden small!

Well, I still have a lot to read before May 9th (we were provided 150 pages of background articles)...
...and to pack to meet my weight limit of 44 pounds. While there won't be rum or Cuban cigars in my bag on the return I'm making room for the mementos of art and music and photos that I can share back here along with all the new ideas, information and experiences cultivated from 10 days in the island nation.

(Photo from Food First)

It is sad that we continue to harbor fear about the socialist protocols after so many decades. It is my hope that as I and others return and share our experiences we can erase more of those old Cold War myths that no longer serve either our country or our Cuban neighbors and refocus on how we can exchange what really matters: information and resources to improve lives on both sides of the Straits of Florida not just for today but for our future as well.

For more information on this tour and other agroecology and food sovereignty tours through Food First, check out their website. And stay tuned after May 20th for blog posts about the tour.

Celebrate Earth Day by cleaning out the fridge

Yeah, that's what I said. Clean out the fridge and celebrate Earth Day with me this Tuesday. If you can't get over to my gorgeous little mountain town of Sylva, NC, I'll post some pics and instructions on how to create a "second chance garden" from all that produce you would normally throw away (GASP! OMG! HEAVEN FORBID!) or compost. Whew, that's better. We're going to have a lot of fun snipping, watering and reviving romaine lettuce, beets, green onions, yellow onions and garlic, bok choi and sweet potatoes bringing those limp, shriveled, chopped off stems, roots and end pieces back to life.

Join us at Bridge Park on April 22nd. And thank yo Mama Gaia not just tomorrow but every day. Without her, there wouldn't be a you, ya know.

We made it through winter! (I think)

61 degrees yesterday in the mountains. Crocus and daffodils are blooming. Right now it's 39 degrees and snowing. Mother Nature just doesn't know which way to swing this year. While there is a scent of spring  flowing across the highlands from time to time, I'm busy looking through my seeds saved from last season desperately trying to discern when to plant. I moved from a place where I had weathered winters with lots of salad greens under plastic and old sheets...

... to a new location where I'm planning for much less ambitious growing situation in a few pots on my deck.

Sometimes it's enough just to have a few snips of garlic or onion or celery leaf to throw into my cooking and I'm excited by the leaves growing from the base of the bok choi I purchased last week.

Next time you have root vegetables like carrots, beets or daikon radishes, don't throw away the top ends. Instead push them part way into moist potting soil, give them some sunshine and water to keep them from drying out and wait for the leafing action. You can add marvelous tastes to your food just from the leaves! And what a way to garden inside if you don't have space outside. It just takes a few items headed for the compost bin and a windowsill with some sunlight to make you feel like a farmer. Need some music to get you going? Try this on--hip hop for gardeners!

Here's a great book with a refrigerator full of ideas for gardening with your garbage! Don't Throw It; Grow It! Deborah Peterson's book lists 68 windowsill plants you can grow from scraps. Who says you need a tiller?

April is trying to peek around the corner. Please don't give up on us.....we've waited sooooo long. Thank you heidi richardson evans at www.daisybones.com

Women feed the world every day!

DID YOU KNOW: Women farmers produce more than half of all food worldwide (Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization)

Yet, these women don't own half the land base or receive half the income. 

According to Oxfam International, women perform 66 percent of the world’s work, but only earn 10 percent of the income.

Women farmers and gardeners produce food--to feed their families. And for this reason, aren't noticed except by researchers and governmental studies because what they grow isn't sold or exchanged as a commodity. So it's not counted in the wealth of a household or region or country. Really?

Well these women are changing the story of food-growing in many ways, among them, recognizing the inestimable value of women who grow the food. From FoodTank comes: 23 Women Changing Food! Check out their organizations and learn how they are putting a woman's face on the food we eat. 

Look around your town or city. Where are women collaborating, connecting, to provide good food to their families and communities? Are you one of them? If not, how can you link in or support women as farmers, gardeners or those who want to learn? 

Hey, it's spring! The very best time to get involved in a community garden, school garden or beginning to grow food on your back porch. The inspiration for my book, simply garden small! came from small landholders and kitchen gardens around the world, many of them women. 

Cabin fever diversions

January weather was unpredictable and downright temperamental . Not even our usual hint of spring-- a brief collection of warm days stuffed between bookends of cold temperatures and snow. This year, the weather is coming in waves of cold and snow and icy roads that only makes us long for sunshine and dream ever more deeply and dreaming about what really gets us excited this time of year: planting a garden! Yes, I know, perusing the seed catalogues, making long lists of things you want to grow or starting seeds inside...
...are a happy and pleasant diversion from going stir-crazy cooped up inside but nothing can replace the scent of spring, that nasal indicator that our time in the garden is nearly hear. Ah, waxing poetic is not helping me here. But one thing that has kept me busy and excited while waiting for the ground to thaw is our new adventure here in western North Carolina: forming a food co-op! Say hello to Ramp-berry Community Market Co-op.

So this has been my main occupation the last couple of months. Having meetings with locals, creating a community survey that is just now ready for distribution, pulling in key people from our community and visioning what it would feel like to have our very own food cooperative selling produce and other items from local vendors and suppliers. With the assistance of resources from the Food Cooperative Initiative and various coops throughout the region who have offered support, we feel this is a great opportunity to make a difference. Not just in what a retail venture can provide in terms of quality, organic food, but also by adding jobs to the area, educational events, and becoming the community hub for information that may not be readily available as we navigate the confusion of GMOs, clean water, climate change, bee die-off, and  many other problems affecting us.


You can join the fun! Co-ops are springing up all over with good reason: you become the member-owner, not just a consumer, and you have a voice in how your coop is run. BIG difference over corporately-own food stores. I'll keep you posted on how we progress. For now enjoy this little video about starting a coop (if you can tear yourself away from the *seed catalogues.)

(*Hands down favorite: Sow True Seeds, Asheville, NC. We LOVES our local organic seed company!)

My New Year Resolution: GROW MORE GARDENS!

As an elder, it is my responsibility to pass on what I know to the newer humans on the planet. Not because I'm so smart or even more experienced. Some times it comes down to what my mother and grandmother liked to tell us: don't do as I do, do as I tell you to do!

Let's face facts: the elder generations came from a time when technology and chemicals were believed to be the salvation of the planet. We know better now and certainly a great deal of that knowledge has come from those younger than we but still....we have gifts to share, we have to remind them over and over HOW we were taught what we came to believe, HOW to perceive the world in a way that is different perhaps than we were taught to believe.

In some parts of the world, hunger remains simply because people do not know how to utilize what is all around them. That is until someone around them begins to grow food and the spell is broken. Oxfam International works in a variety of ways to empower people all over the world to become self-reliant in feeding themselves. Come watch an amazing elder from Uganda and you can see how well bag gardens and raised bed keyholes and growing in found objects can produce food in limited spaces. These are the types of small gardens I promote in my book (simply garden small!) and which are flourishing all around the world. Try one this growing season!