4 Decisions You’ll Make
Peasant farmers were granted more autonomy. At their behest, Cuban
agronomists were helping to advance non-petroleum-based technologies
to rejuvenate the soil, control weeds, fight pests, promote plant diversity,
rotate vegetable crops, encourage natural predator and parasite control,
and otherwise rework farming practices for local conditions.
Cuban pride and optimism were on display in the farms I visited and
in the stories I heard. Yields on small plots of land had steadily climbed.
Additional food was being produced and sold at local markets. The road
back had not been easy, but farmers expressed a sense of having more
control and being less reliant on others.
Cubans often referred to these initial years of struggle as “the special
period,” as if it were a proving ground they had successfully conquered.
As one farmer said to me, “We knew that nobody was coming to help us,
so we pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps and made it happen.” Then,
as if to make sure I understood his point, he reached down and tugged
on the top of his boots for emphasis.
For me, the contrast between Central America and Cuba highlighted
what it meant to live and learn. Both areas were broadsided by devastat-
ing events, yet they responded very differently. Large farming operations
in Central America fell back on what they already knew, while Cubans
took a new tack. After early government initiatives had fallen short,
rather than hold out hope for petroleum imports and external aid they
had channeled their energy into producing food differently. Outside
assistance would come from nature. Restoring food production would
hinge on greater harmony with the environment.
When food comes easily, living without learning becomes easier. Any
concerns about scarcity are countered by simply ratcheting up additional
food production. Having more food comes from increasing the size
and scale of production—not rethinking the modern food system.
True learning, on the other hand, requires us to question common
assumptions.
A case in point is the frequent assertion that to feed a growing
population, food production will need to double by the year 2050. For many,
this claim is self-evident. The United Nations estimates that the global
population will reach 9.8 billion people by 050. Projections about how