Exploring the Cuban food system

The latest issue of the IATP Food and Society Fellows’ Digest, Exploring the Cuban Food System, reflects on the fellows’ recent visit to Cuba examining sustainable and urban agriculture systems. As the new digest explains, despite the fundamental differences between the U.S. and Cuba, there was much to learn. As Food and Society Fellows Program Director Mark Muller writes, “The urban food production in Havana was very impressive, and the ingenious ways that people found to grow food provides a model for local foods enthusiasts in the United States.We in the land of plenty can learn something from those who have struggled so much against scarcity.”

Some key topics explored in the issue include:

• Cuba's Special Period: Fellow Shalini Kantayya explores the economic crisis and lessons it can provide today. 
• Andy Fisher explains why Cuba's success in developing its thriving urban agriculture system is not as applicable to the U.S. as many have claimed.
• Elizabeth U asks “What is sustainability,” and “What is sustainability in Cuba?”
• Fred Bahnson writes both about a successful urban agriculture operation in Havana and its charismatic leader.
• Public health in Cuba: Two fellows, Alethia Carr and Erin MacDougall, share there thoughts on the similarities and differences in U.S.-Cuban public health policy.
• Farm to school advocate Deb Eschmeyer examines the state of school food in Cuba.
• Roger Doiron digs into the history of Cuba's urban agriculture system with his video “Havana Homegrown: Inside Cuba's Urban Agriculture Revolution.”