Organic Agriculture in Cuba
Today I am so excited to share photos from organic gardens and farms taken by Seattle-based photographer Jennifer Stanton in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba. I’ve long been fascinated in Cuba’s transformation from an import dependent, cash crop, industrialized agricultural system to a sustainable, localized food system. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba saw its farm, food, and petroleum (including petrochemical) subsidies vanish. Coupled with the US trade embargo, Cuba faced a severe food crisis that forced the development of a new system that relies on traditional agricultural methods and a vast network of mainly small scale urban and rural organic farms. Jennifer told me that in Havana she saw community gardens all over the place:
They had very, very extensive raised bed systems in the middle of the city. At the time of year that we were there they were growing tons of greens, flowers, carrots.
On her 2007 trip, she also traveled through the more rural parts of Cuba, where she ran across this bean farmer winnowing dry black beans from their pods:
In Cuba, they follow old agricultural practices. Their corn fields are built everywhere and they plant beans right at the base of the corn plants. The beans are dried in the field. You could pick a pod that was dry and open up the pod and there would be red or black beans.
I’d been considering growing beans up my popcorn stalks this summer, but Jennifer’s beautiful pictures sealed the deal. They also created an enormous amount of curiosity on my part about Cuba. I’d love to have the chance to travel there and see how their food system works, especially in urban areas, and bring those lessons home. I hope you all enjoy the photos. Thanks so much for sharing, Jennifer!
Really amazing photos!
May 5th, 2009 at 9:48 amOnly last week I was watching on TV a program called “80 gardens around the world” and it was made by a British company and presented by Monty (something). I know it was shown in Australia but with the internet you maybe able to down load it somewhere.
May 5th, 2009 at 7:11 pmthanks so much for sharing that with us, Willi!
May 5th, 2009 at 8:13 pmBeautiful. I love seeing gardens from other parts of the world. I think we in the US are relearning a lot of this and the photos are lovely.
May 6th, 2009 at 9:38 amIf only we could all go back to that!
May 6th, 2009 at 11:46 amI’ve read about these community gardens in Cuba before. Great to see some wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing!
Oh, I can’t tell from the pics. What are they using to support the soil in the raised beds? Definitely not wood siding. Maybe rock or concrete?
May 10th, 2009 at 8:07 amWow. I’d really like to try this method of growing pole beans up my corn stalks. Do I just put a pole bean seed at the base of every corn stalk?
May 10th, 2009 at 6:24 pmHas anyone tried a Three Sisters planting? (corn beans squash)
I’ve always thought it interesting but I really don’t have enough space to grow corn, and the one year I did either a rat or a raccoon mowed down every single plant.
May 14th, 2009 at 9:14 amBeautiful garden!
May 17th, 2009 at 8:27 amFascinating! I totally want to go to Cuba!
May 19th, 2009 at 2:54 pmAre there any books or extended articles abut this topic? I’m very curious to learn about their process of transformation. What kind of leadership emerged? Is it still strong and working in other sectors of the community? Also wold love to see if they keep it all up when it isn’t’ so necessary,ie trade embargo lifted and sanction gone. It all seems so wonderfully Utopian and I would hate to see it dissolve in the face of western food and consumption habits (ie mcdonalds!)
May 27th, 2009 at 9:12 pmKim–I just ordered a DVD and a book from the organization called Food First. The book is called Sustainable Agriculture and Resistance: Transforming Food Production in Cuba:
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/store/book/Sustainable_Agriculture_and_Resistance
The Greening of Cuba is a DVD about how Cuba restructured their food system following the fall of the Soviet Union
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/store/dvds/the_greening_of_cuba_dvd
I can’t wait for them to arrive. Also, my neighbor recommended the move the Power of Community:
May 28th, 2009 at 12:29 pmhttp://www.powerofcommunity.org/cm/index.php
thanks willi this is exactly what i am looking for.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:08 pmAwesome pics and awesome story. Thanks for sharing.
June 13th, 2010 at 8:24 am.-= David Scoggins´s last blog ..The March of the Armyworm =-.
I guess when you are hungry and can’t buy much of your own food you’ll grow it even if you don’t want to.
July 14th, 2010 at 7:23 am