----- Original Message ----- From: drew Sierra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, August 21, 2000 6:49 PM Subject: Re: [Cuba SI] Rob: Cuban Organic Farming. US Thrips palmi pest spray When I visited Cuba, I had the opportunity to visit a agricultural collective just thirty miles from Havana. The people were friendly, and they were truly "hardcore communists". There collective was very productive, producing cabbage mainly I believe, they also had a farm with cows and chickens. The collective was the most direct democracy you could think of. Everyone lives together in a set of nice houses alongside the farming area--when you reach the age of 18 you are allowed to join the Collective council--whether you are a man or women, communist or not, you can join, and once in the council there is a direct vote for the council president. The council votes on virtually everything, and as I said, I have never seen such direct democracy. From there the council will determine what is needed, and the council president will represent the collective when visiting with the Cuban congress. Both Fidel and Raul are very active leaders in Cuban politics. They are truly with the people. All Cubans have met either Fidel or Raul at least once in their lives, because both leaders make it a point to meet and speak with all Cuban citizens. The members of this collective I visited were still excited about having had a meeting with Raul several months earlier. At the meeting, the council voted on things that were needed--they then demanded from Raul, a new truck for transportation, several new radios which needed to be replaced, and an increase in medical supplies--Raul is like Fidel, a servent to the people, within a few weeks the new truck arrived in the collective, with several new radios and some new medical supplies for the hard workers. The councile members were thankful, and said that thats what is great about Cuba, the leaders are servents of the people, and they are always going out of there way to get the people what they need to make it. The organic farming was prevalent of course, with gasoline and petroleum prices through the roof--I've been told that the Cuban government pays up to 70% more for gasoline then the original sale price because of the intermediaries needed to buy it--organic farming is necessary. The way of the campesino has returned. Campesino tradition of using mules to do the work in the fields instead of tractors has returned, farms have been made more efficient, and rations have increased considerably over the last couple of years. Anyone who has been to Cuba recently, please share with me what you've found about the agricultural situation over there, or of course, if anyone has questions. -drew >From: John Clancy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: [Cuba SI] Rob: Cuban Organic Farming. US Thrips palmi pest spray >Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 15:50:34 -0700 > >from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >subject: Cuban Organic Farming. US Thrips palmi pest spray '97 >Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: "robert rodvik" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Kofi Annan - UN Secretary-General" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Fw: ORGANIC FARMING CUBAN STYLE. >Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 > > http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=9570 > >AlterNet August 7, 2000 > > Castro Topples Pesticide in Cuba > > By Renee Kjartan, Washington Free Press > >Organic farming -- often considered an insignificant part of the >food supply -- can feed an entire country concludes a report by the >Oakland, CA-based Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food >First <http://www.foodfirst.org>, a group advocating sustainable >farming. > >In Cuba, many of the foods people eat every day are grown without >synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides, the report, Cultivating >Havana: Urban Agriculture and Food Security in the Years of Crisis ><http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/devreps/dr14.html>, found. > >Cuba's organic food movement developed in response to a crisis. >Before the revolution that threw out dictator Fulgencio Batista in >1959, and to some extent during the years of Soviet support for Cuba, >the island followed a typical pattern of colonial food production: >It produced luxury export crops while importing food for its own >people. In 1990 over 50% of Cuba's food came from imports. "In >the Caribbean, food insecurity is a direct result of centuries of >colonialism that prioritized the production of sugar and other cash >crops for export, neglecting food crops for domestic consumption," >the report says. In spite of efforts by the revolutionary government >to correct this situation, Cuba continued in this mold until the >breakup of the Soviet Union in 1989. > >The withdrawal of Soviet aid meant that 1,300,000 tons of chemical >fertilizers, 17,000 tons of herbicides, and 10,000 tons of >pesticides, could no longer be imported, according to the report. > >One of Cuba's responses to the shock was to develop "urban >agriculture," intensifying the previously established National Food >Program, which aimed at taking thousands of poorly utilized areas, >mainly around Havana, and turning them into intensive vegetable >gardens. Planting in the city instead of only in the countryside >reduced the need for transportation, refrigeration, and other scarce >resources. > >The plan succeeded beyond anyone's dreams. By 1998 there were over >8000 urban farms and community gardens run by over 30,000 people in >and around Havana. > >Urban agriculture is now a "major element of the Havana cityscape," >the Food First report says, and the model is now being copied >throughout the country, with production growing at 250-350% per >year. Today, food from the urban farms is grown almost entirely with >active organic methods, the report says. Havana has outlawed the use >of chemical pesticides in agriculture within city limits. > >Martin Bourque, Food First's program director for sustainable > agriculture, said the goal of the National Urban >Agriculture program is to produce enough fresh fruits and vegetables >for everyone, and that some cities have surpassed this. He >added that farmers are some of the best-paid people in Cuba, >and "organic foods are for all Cubans, not just for the rich." > >Autoconsumos, or self-provisioning gardens, are found at schools and >workplaces, with 376 in Havana today. The produce usually goes to >the lunchroom of the host institution, and the rest goes to the >workers at low prices. > >There are 451 organoponicos, raised container beds with a high ratio >of compost to soil and intensive planting, in Havana, growing and >selling vegetables, herbs, and spices directly to the public. > >The rest of the farming is done in huertos intensivos, or intensive >gardens, city plots planted for maximum yield per area and >incorporating organic matter directly into the soil. There is >almost no pest problem because of the "incredible biodiversity" of >the gardens. "We are reaching biological equilibrium. The pest >populations are now kept under control by the constant presence of >predators in the ecosystem. I have little need for application of >any control substance," the president of one huerto intensivo said. > >There are other programs aimed at increasing small-scale urban and >suburban production of everything from eggs to rabbits to flowers to >medicinal plants to honey, Bourque said. Many rural homes now raise >their own staples, such as beans and viandas (traditional root and >tuber crops), and small-animal raising has also spread >dramatically, especially in the suburban and rural areas. > >At first, Bourque said, sustainable agriculture was seen as a way >to "suffer through" the shock of the Soviet withdrawal. "When they >began this effort, most policy- makers could not imagine any >significant amount of rice being grown in Cuba without the full >green-revolution technical package (e.g. high off-farm inputs). But >by 1997 small-scale rice production had reached 140,000 tons, 65% >of national production. Today everyone agrees that >sustainable agriculture has played a major role in feeding the >country and is saving Cuba millions of dollars," that would other- > wise go "to the international pesticide cartel," Bourque said. > >According to official figures, in 1999 organic urban agriculture >produced 65% of Cuba's rice, 46% of the fresh vegetables, 38% of the >non-citrus fruits, 13% of the roots, tubers, and plantains, and 6% of >the eggs, Bourque said. > >He noted that food is "still very expensive in spite of rationing >programs designed to make sure everyone has access to the basics, >but Cuba has clearly grown itself out of the food crisis of the mid- >1990s." > >In the last year Food First has taken dozens of >farmers, researchers, academics, and activists from around the >world to learn from Cuba's organic agricultural experience. > > Contact FoodFirst at 398 60th St., Oakland, CA 94618; (510) 654- >4400. > >Copyright (c) 2000 Washington Free Press. All Rights Reserved. > > ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com --------------------------------------------------------------------<e|- Remember four years of good friends, bad clothes, explosive chemistry experiments. http://click.egroups.com/1/8013/0/_/30563/_/966880185/ --------------------------------------------------------------------|e>- Cuba SI - Imperialism NO! Information and discussion about Cuba. Socialism or death! Patria o muerte! Venceremos! http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Change Delivery Options: http://www.egroups.com/mygroups
