warning: super nerdy entry - even if you skip the UBER nerd portion about agriculture in cuba. if you like fashion and music, please disregard. i won't be upset.
in booking a trip to cuba, i was excited. not many do i admire more than che, and not many places have i wanted to travel more than the small country who stood up to the US. though this wasn't a political trip i was taking, i was excited by it... small bits of rebellion, right?
but like i do everytime i book a trip somewhere, i then began thinking of the food. since food, and the food that i eat, and the way in which we as a society consume it, is such an important part of my life, it's also a fundamental part of my travel plans - no matter where i'm going.
so, when all i've heard of food in cuba is how awful it is, i was worried. since i'm mostly vegan, i was worried i'd be left with a week's worth of cassava, and rice (which actually, isn't horrible).
here's where 'm going to get super, SUPER food nerd. please feel free to skip to below, where i get back to food.
after '94 (without a huge history lesson here), the government lifted it's ban on monopoly food supply to local populations, and farmers were permitted to sell their excess to the local population. additionally, most of the agriculture in cuba is organic, and for reasons other than it being trendy - they have such restricted access to fertilizer and pesticides, farming is done naturally,
out of necessity. cuba only relies on imports for about
16% of their food overall (which is an outrageously low amount of import, for a country whose access to fertilizer and water is so limited). it's important not to confuse this with statistics that state that approx. 85% is imported for rations - this amount refers only to the food that is specifically distributed through the government for ration cards. it's likely urban agriculture that helps out with this.... go urban agriculture! since they went through their loss of trade relations (again, sorry, short history blurb), and their plummet of success in agriculture, they've thrived after figuring it out their own way - and now show the best food production (in growth and sustained production) in the carribean and latin america. as with anything, this is all highly debated - some say that food rations should end, some are aghast at the fact that 70% of the land that should be used for agriculture isn't being used... but where you fall, tends to depend on which side of the political spectrum you more heavily relate to.
ok. enough nerdiness (THOUGH, if you want more, there's a REALLY great article on their transition, and exploration of co-ops and their 'peasant sector'
here. seriously nerdy but seriously great reading).
those who skimmed above, you can start reading again.
in essence, cuba is incredibly self sufficient (except when faced with devestating hurricanes, storms, and other gutting disasters). so, surprisingly, i'll be eating a wide variety of foods while there. supporting home grown. things i'll be focusing on while on vacation (i'm probably eating them right now, as you're reading!), based what i've discovered:
citrus: cuba is the world's 3rd largest producer of grapefruit. which means FRESH JUICE GALORE. it's also the first area of agriculture in which foreign invvestment took place... in 1991.
tropical fruits (duh): plaintains (one of my all time FAVES), bananas, avocado, coconut, pineapple. heaven. tropical fruits account for approx. 70% of local production, AND plantains and bananas are produced purely for domestic consumption.... no exporting. pretty awesome.
fish and seafood: have been identified as a huge export commodity for cuba. which means it's plentiful, and sustainable. shrimp, spiny lobster, and reef fish. i'm all about that.
food is such a crazy important part of what we rely on for the enjoyment of an experience. and yet, people rarely take into consideration where that food comes from, and how it is obtained. i'm always interested to hear where people think their food in canada came from. the beef they eat, the grains they're cooking. more often than not, they believe it's homegrown... and i am always quick to correct them - most often, it's not.
and, of course, some of their lowest imported foods - eggs, vegetables, sugar, and starchy roots.
i guess the true test of food will be whether i come home bigger or smaller. i LOVE carribean food. i'm gonna gorge all over some plantains.
