Permaculture in Cuba
A Global Public Media article from 2006 describes the adoption of permaculture concepts from Australian teachers by Cubans back when 80% of foreign trade was abrubtly cut off from the Soviets and their partners. I’m surprised as a U.S. citizen at how supportive the Cuban government seems to have been to the new idea, according to this article, even providing funds to get it going. Individuals and neighborhood groups were encouraged to feed themselves instead of building a giant statue of Castro. In Warren Beatty’s film, Reds, the Russian people weren’t even allowed to collect firewood in the harsh winter after the Revolution because it would have infringed on the State’s monopoly of the means of production, comrade. So while I’m skeptical about Michael Moore’s Sicko possibly Potemkin village depiction of high tech medicine supposedly available to every field hand and beach prostitute, I’m more open to the idea that organic gardening is being done there. It would make sense for land formerly used to grow export commodities to be redirected to personal survival. Reminiscent of WW2 Victory Gardens.
