Cuba's Organic Revolution

Synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers are used and abused all over the world to increase yields of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Using these new chemicals to produce massive amounts of cheap food has become the norm, so much so that this method is labeled conventional agriculture to distinguish it from the “newer” organic agriculture method of food production. Conventional? Only fifty years ago many of these synthetic compounds had yet to be invented. Organic agriculture is not new, it has been the conventional, and only, method of food production for thousands of years. The use of chemical compounds to raise yields is not conventional, it is experimental and after a fifty year trial the dangerous experiment must be stopped. Our water is poisoned, plant and animal life is suffering, and the long-term effects on our bodies are only beginning to be uncovered.

The argument that is most commonly used in support of chemical-based agriculture is that it is necessary to feed a growing global population. True, but did the growth of chemical intensive agriculture come in response to the growing world population, or is it fueling the world population boom? I think both are true to a certain extent. Agricultural scientists developed methods of increasing crop yields with the motivation of feeding hungry people, but now that these methods are widespread, the population has increased accordingly and there are still hungry people in many parts of the world.

There is another flaw in this argument; it assumes that increasing yields is only possible through the use of synthetic chemicals. Thanks to my friend Jairo, I just read an article that refutes this assumption.

Cuba became involved with chemical agriculture along with the rest of the world in the 1950’s and 1960’s. After the Cuban Revolution the United States imposed a strict embargo in an attempt to overthrow Castro’s government. Of course, this failed, and the Cuban government received generous support from the Soviet bloc in the form of oil, food, and agricultural subsidies. Everything changed in 1989 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Cuba’s supply of chemicals was cut almost overnight; no more cheap oil and fertilizer. Instead of revolting against its government, the people of Cuba reinvented their agricultural methods. Virtually all Cuba’s food is now produced through intensive organic methods, with particular focus on urban agriculture, which reduces food transport costs. Cuba is now able to meet all of its food needs through organic agriculture - a feat that most people thought was impossible.

Anyone interested in fundamentally changing the food system in this country and others should read this article – Cuba’s Organic Revolution. More proof that we can do better, we just need the right motivation.