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>> As a result of this 'revolution' Cuba has the
cleanest, organic (60%) food supply in the world and the calorie consumption has
returned to the level prior to the Soviet collapse. Milk and meat are
still in short supply since Cuban soil is not condusive to grain production. but
otherwise the diet is both adequate and healthy. This may also be a significant
factor in promoting life expectancy and lowering infant mortality. One
additional factor may be that these local gardens also produce a wide variety of
traditional herbal remedies and the Cuban government has promoted major research
in and production of neutraceuticals as well as organic pesticides, herbicides
and fertilizers. (I have a short article coming out in the fall edition of
Canadian Dimension, "The Future of Agriculture: Is Cuba the Answer?" which goes
into this in more detail.) <<
Paul P I would be extremely interested in your article, "The Future
of Agriculture: Is Cuba the Answer?"
The issue of local gardening also has huge implications for
the American way of life, which has changed radically since the death of the
family farm as the primary taproot of social life. Local gardening - Cuban
style, just might also have historical implications for what is called amongst
Marxists, the antithesis between town and country or the division of labor in
society that promotes the cities as producers of industrial goods and services
and the countryside as exclusive producers of agricultural products.
I believe it was in the 1980s, when then Mayor Coleman Young
Jr., proposed to use massive amounts of vacant land and lots as local
agricultural areas for the city of residents of Detroit, to the horror of the
guardians and intellectual champions of the American way of life.
I tend towards conspiracy theory. How else does one explain an
entire society where the individual is deprived of basic fruits and vegetation
outside of market exchange? The fruit trees and basic vegetation has to be cut
down and removed from the sphere of immediate public access.
Its not like nature said. "fu*k it . . . I am only going to
grow fruits and vegetation on land owned by huge agri-businesses."
It not like the school buildings said, "I do not want any
books in any of my rooms that teach anyone about farming and vegetation and
small plots. I just want people to know how to go to work and makes cars so that
folks can argue about old cars in Cuba spewing forth all kinds of toxins. This
way there will be a reason to cast an ugly picture of Cuba and Castro."
Socialism - no matter how ones defines it, ain't no cure all
for everything.
Me . . . I ain't no farmer or inclined toward such and will
lean towards an infrastructure of sophisticated distribution of agricultural
products. Alongside of local and intertwined agricultural production within the
modern cities.
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