Efficiently grown
CBC aired the first part of a documentary this evening, hosted by Dr. David Suzuki. I don’t often include citations, but this excerpt from the corporate site is a true precis:
Cuba:The Accidental Revolution (Part 1), examines Cuba’s response to the food crisis created by the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989. At one time Cuba’s agrarian culture was as conventional as the rest of the world. It experienced its first “Green Revolution” when Russia was supplying Cuba with chemical and mechanical “inputs.” However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 ended all of that, and almost overnight threw Cuba’s whole economic system into crisis. Factories closed, food supplies plummeted. Within a year the country had lost over 80% of its foreign trade. With the loss of their export markets and the foreign exchange to pay for imports, Cuba was unable to feed its population and the country was thrown into a crisis. The average daily caloric intake of Cubans dropped by a third.
Without fertilizer and pesticides, Cubans turned to organic methods. Without fuel and machinery parts, Cubans turned to oxen. Without fuel to transport food, Cubans started to grow food in the cities where it is consumed. Urban gardens were established in vacant lots, school playgrounds, patios and back yards. As a result Cuba created the largest program in sustainable agriculture ever undertaken. By 1999 Cuba’s agricultural production had recovered and in some cases reached historic levels.
Let’s focus on a point that really struck me. In the “Western world”, agriculture typically requires 12 calories of fuel to produce 1 calorie of food. Cuba has REVERSED this statistic. The food production is more labour-intensive than the farms found in Canada, and the climate is better suited (you see, winter isn’t really that good a deal). However, as the cost of oil increases, and the need for food increases, the world is going to have to adapt…
For a long time, the fringe have suggested that PEI abandon the near-monoculture of potatoes, switch to a more “organic” model and reduce drastically the addiction to chemically aided farming. Here is proof that it works. Although I doubt that the farmers of the Island are in front of the TV on this lovely evening, maybe they’ll hear the rumour, whispered in the wind, that the times, they are a changin’.
On other fronts, my classmates from the ’76 harvest at UPEI are meeting tonight to celebrate thirty years. I’m not in Charlottetown, but my spirit is with them. We had a good time, and learned a few things along the way!
