Posted on 12/01/2011 Written by Jack Laub
Contextual History, How Cuban’s Became Innovative Eaters.
I love to tell stories, however to spare you from a boring history lecture, I shall be brief. Cuba’s history is as follows. Cuba was a wonderful place, whose native inhabitants thrived upon the luscious Caribbean island. Then in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue and killed most of the Taino natives with guns, germs, and steel; enslaving the remaining 100,000 indigenous for the motherland, Espaňa (Wikipedia). From there on out Cuba was owned for 400 years by Spain, sold to the US, fought a ten year war of independence, labeled independent, fought a revolution, communism adopted, framed into the Spanish-American war, hung economically by the skin of its teeth, survived an overbearing dictatorship, held another revolution, can’t forget the bay of pigs, and a missile crisis; all of this history concluding with the complete isolation of the island in 1963 with the instillation of a complete diplomatic and commercial embargo, inhibiting all commerce between Cuba and the United States.
I normally spare my readers from run-on sentences, but I find it necessary to relieve your ears from yet another dissertation on Cuban history. When American’s are told the history of Cuba, certain important details are left out, details which the middle class locals of Havana still speak of over their game of dominoes, and afternoon cup of coffee. One of the pivotal facts forgotten: Cuba lead Latin American with its highest per capita consumption of meats, vegetables, and cereals prior to the embargo!
Cuban cuisine itself, much like most Caribbean diets, was birthed from a hodge-podge of cultures. This includes not only the native Cuban’s, but Spanish settlers, European entrepreneurs, African slaves brought to the island by the Spanish, and the Criollos (children to Spanish expatriates). All of these cultures walked the streets of San Cristobal de la Habana (founded 1515, Wikipedia) and mixed their cultures either obliviously, or knowingly. Cultural mingling was enhanced by the presence of multitudes of captured African’s, brought over as slaves, harvesting the cash and commodity crops of sugar cane, tobacco, and coffee. Cuba has held onto its heritage as a nation founded by the people, for the people. Although their politics label them as a communist state today, Cuban cuisine is anything but a food to satisfy the many, and not fatten the few….but quite the opposite. The large platters of multi course, family style meals would surely satisfy Emilio Esteva’s alma (soul). When you order an authentic Cuban dish, be prepared to visually distinguish between the culturally appropriate staples that make that unique plate.
This is Ropa Vieja which is a traditional Cuban plate.
However somewhere between fighting a handful of wars and attempting to stay out of trouble as a communist nation, an embargo crippled the availability of food. The embargo obviously didn’t help Cuba, but Fidel Castro and his affiliates did the best they could to improve the gross national happiness of the island. Starting in 1962, the government issued small food rations to quiet the uprisings of peasants. Scraps can’t feed the masses. It is sad to report that the standard of living for an average Cuban, although blessed with free health care, and easy access to a basic education, are crammed into government housing, and importing 80% of their food.
Is there hope for Cuba, already dependent on imported food, to feed itself while in the first of the ever tightening embargo?
The hope is an urban system of sustainable agriculture. Organoponicos. The equivalent of the community Urban farm.
http://www.littlevanthatcould.com/tag/organoponico/
Having relied on aid from their regrettable partner, Cuba was hit hard after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They had been exporting so many cigars, and food products to the USSR that when farmers entered into an era called the Special period. According to researcher Kristina Taboulchanas (2000), “Cuba had lost 85% of its imports including both agricultural inputs and food.” To make the Special period a little worse, prior to 1990, the start of the Special period, Cuba had been reliant on fertilizers, and pesticides from the USSR, decreasing their crop yields, food security, and increasing market prices. Although tourism flourished, food from home was ignored. Starting in the 1990’s these organoporico’s have allowed farmers like those of the once LA South Side community farm (The Garden) to have the option to grow their own food. These community gardens are often more than an acre, and are quite diversified (see table below).
Organoporrico’s de Cuba
Launched by the Cuban government, Organoporrico’s are labeled according to their location. The city of Cienfuegos in southern Cuba utilizes empty lots, dumps, on the land of “state owned enterprises” (Taboulchanas), and hydroponic greenhouses within the city itself for these large (many are over 2 acres) urban farms. Most urban farms, can’t produce jack from the soil there, due to pollution, litter, etc., therefore raised platform planting beds are created and soil is tended to and organically fertilized, before the seeds are planted.
Table: Most common crops found in organoponicos (Taboulchanas, online source).
Rainy Season
(May to October) |
Dry Season
(November to April) |
All year around
|
|
|
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The main crops exported in Cienfuegos is sugar cane, rum, sugar, and coffee. The organic farmers have utilized the wastes of these large scale sugar cane planation’s and put what is called cachaza (Taboulchanas) back into the soil along with organic matter, soil, and animal manure. Often soil isn’t used at the organoporrico’s themselves, but shipped to other urban farms across the island nation. It is difficult to picture how many sustainable organic farms in Cuba itself as well! Ever since the government aid program helped farmers to get back on their feet in the city of Cienfuegos (alone!!) there are, “approximately 102 organoponicos, 63 are semi-private operations and 39 are managed by state enterprises”(Taboulchanas).
Culture
This has been your brief introduction to Cuba and how it transformed what it is today. A country whose economy is surviving on cigars, coffee, sugar, and tourist trinkets. The embargo has not only brought down an curtain of isolation upon the Caribbean island, now frozen in time. Has the United States set up Cuba for failure? Once it is time for their food system to meet the global market, will a substantial surplus be needed to compete with the United States big food monopoly? I respect Castro for little but the fact that he refused American ration-aid until the early 1990’s. By doing this, he promoted the skills of his young revolutionary state, promoting a self-sustainable system of agriculture to feed the many. Although still struggling today, the 90 mile neighbor of Miami still has much potential to raise its levels of food security through urban farming.
(Right)St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Roadside: local produce.
By: Jack Laub
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Intro to Global Studies 01 Spiral Bound, Notes taken by a Mr. Jack Laub.
written by Kristina Taboulchanas (2000)
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