Yes, yes, yes. I was in Cuba fifteen years ago, at the beginning of this agricultural revolution and the middle of the hard times of the Special Period. I saw the first of the urban gardens and cried at a collective farm when the old, retired guys who had come out to hoe the fields because there was no oil for the tractors showed us the calluses on their hands ---- showed us with pride, not complaint. I knew then we had much to learn from the Cuban people. I was inspired and moved by their resiliance, intelligence, and altruism.

I have had no illusions about an Obama administration but did harbor the hope that travel to Cuba for US citizens would become legal. So far, guess not. I want to return and see what these beautiful people have done, and in the meantime welcome all reports such as this.

Oh, almost forgot . . . just for the record, Fidel gave up cigars years and years ago. Strange to see these pictures of him from so long ago ---- what a survivor.

Not just for Cubans anymore . . . the homegrown revolution's on all our streets, crisis and opportunity both.

www.RadicalRelocalization.com
"They'll never even see us coming!"

>>---- showed us with pride, not complaint. I knew then we had much to learn from the Cuban people. I was inspired and moved by their resiliance, intelligence, and altruism

I recall as a kid in North Alberta having a VERY large garden and how when we harvested in the fall, neigbours would often show up to help. That garden was a lot of work. The folks believed in old fashion hoes and weeding by hand.

I have often wondered.

When you get down on your hands and knees to pull those weeds and when you work up callouses on your hands from the hoes...do you gain NOT only a better appreciation of the food BUT a more SHARING approach to the same?

As in Go ahead take some potatoes home with you. Heres some peas and carrots too...how bout some corn. Don't worry we have LOTS!

We raise it to EAT after all...not for profits.

The community garden plot I signed up for is supposed to be ready the weekend of the 24th... time to buy tomatos.

Sometimes getting away from the US influence is hard but better in the long run, like breaking off a very abusive relationship. Something healthy can grow.

Joe

Let's see how long will it be before the fidelistas go in and wreck up the whole thing, nationalizing the local parcels of farming like they did fifty years ago. If Fidel is still alive it is because he eats and lives like a multi-millionaire while the rest of the cuban population make do with the barest of essentials. When someone goes on tour to a closed country an is shown only what the authorities allow them to see, the claim that they have witnessed the reality of the place cannot be taken seriously. It's kind of like accepting what is said on Fox News at face value. Dumb idea.

Regardless the political climate... the Cuban people, growing food have become healthier. Does this not say something in behalf of organic gardening & food untainted by chemicals and mass produced for the objective of gaining profit ? America could be better...Cuba could be better as could many other places. Humanity, wherever living, has incredible potential and ability to decide and bring forth something new and beneficial from which we might all learn. In the time I have spent in 3rd world countries I have found the people of the land FAR MORE the kind and compassionate human being than in any wealthy district of any American city. Far too much is read into a simple video.

my teacher during my twenty years in japan,, masonobu fukuoka, showed that by human understanding of nature's activity, by imitating the african dung beetle, it is possible to grow rice without transplanting, that the natural strength of non-transplanted rice does not require pesticides, that using a leguminous cover crop (usually clover) eliminates both weeding and soil preparation , that using its own power to grow in unprepared soil strenghthens the rice plant and increases its resistance to pests and diseases,, and that returning the rice straw to the field, as well as the green manure working of the leguminous cover crop eliminates the need for fertilizer...and that this produces both a surplus in terms of quantity harvested and in the free time available for the farmer, ..and that this method works in the case of both other grains and of vegetables... free time, of course, equals culture... and works to end class division, and division of labor..
the model was a small farm, according to climate, of up to an acre, supporting 4-6 persons, with some animals and fowl.
i believe there are some very large rice farms in ca. which have been successfully using his principles..
this also requires fertile soil to work well, and i remember how hard he worked burying wood , planting (leguminous) acacia trees and growing leguminous green manure on the less fertile parts of his land...(the morishima acacia reaches maturity in three years)
the key was coating the grain/vegetable and cover- crop seeds with a ball of clay, and cast seeding them,--no planting in straight rows-- the clay melted in the rain, and, voila..        the importance of his discovery for the coming peak oil, to say nothing of the global warming crisis should be clear

But Castro's human rights record still stinks. Up until recently, Cubans weren't allowed to hav personal computers or cell phones. THe Cuban resorts and fishing boats are still off limits to most Cubans.

I think that the embargo against Cuba and forbidding Americans to visit Cuba is stupid, but I still don't like Castro's government.

And it is not that hard to do...when I was a kid (born 1956) our family of 6 grew more food than we could eat, had a milk cow, a mule or horse for plowing, ate lots of fish from the rivers and creeks, squirrels, deer....

We know how to do this - HERE! So let's promote homegrown!

Guys remember without free speech no rights can exist. So even though you may want to think America is so bad, keep in mind you have the right to say so. In Cuba you don't , absolute power corrupts absolutely .

Plus I don't get all this talk about lifting the embargo , wouldn't that expose there socialist paradise to our evil capitalism. Something horrible might happen, like rapid economic development similar to what happened to other nations who dumped there Marxist ideology . Next thing you know the Cuban people might be able to use the Internet and come into the 21st century .

ANY time a government has to forcibly prevent people from leaving , or denies them the right to travel aboard , I can guarantee you it's a shit whole .

I think it's a bit more complicated than some imagine. It's always easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize those who are on the field. Far too few realize that when Castro and the Cuban people had their revolution, Havana was the US mafia's #1 source of revenue. Those greedy, heartless, white supremist, imperialistic bastards were treating the Cuban people with extreme disrespect, like they treat most Latin Americans and people of color.

When the U.S. mafia and Batiste were kicked out of Cuba, the mafia swore that Fidel Castro would regret that for the rest of his life. The fact that uncle Sam has continued to poke Fidel in the eye every chance it gets is a testament to the influence of the mafia to this day.

Fidel Castro is a colossal figure and great person. The bigger and better they are, the more lies are told about them, and the more people will believe and repeat them.

The USA is the #1 obstacle to world peace, the #1 cause of poverty in Latin America, and the biggest killer on the globe. That is nothing to be proud of.

Too many fools, victims of US propaganda/lies that they've been hearing since they were in diapers fondly imagine than the USA is a great country. It a very powerful sinister force in world, wiping out popular democracy and hope like a cyclone, and there is nothing great about that. It is an evil empire that is overextending it's reach, and it is destined to fall. When it does, fall -the world will be a better place.

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"If Mr Kennedy does not like socialism, we do not like imperialism. We do not like capitalism. We have as much right to complain about the existence of a capitalist imperialist regime 90 miles from our coast as he has to complain about a socialist regime 90 miles from his coast." May 1961, at a parade in Havana." Fidel Castro

"If there ever was in the history of humanity an enemy who was truly universal, an enemy whose acts and moves trouble the entire world, threaten the entire world, attack the entire world in any way or another, that real and really universal enemy is precisely Yankee imperialism."
Fidel Castro

“I swear by the God of my parents, I swear by my nation, I swear by my honor that I will not allow my soul to rest, nor my arm to relax until I have broken the chains that oppress my people through the will of the powerful. Free elections, free land and free men, horror to the oligarchy.”
Oath used by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

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WIKI: An oligarchy... is a form of government in which power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royal, wealth, intellectual, family, military or religious hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" and "rule" .

What a shame that Americans trust their leaders - even those who count the votes.

Interesting that only one person talked about urban farming. It seems as though people have a penchant for celebrating their political perspectives about the US when anything comes out about places like Cuba.

Instead there is a "special period" going on right here in the US especially in communities of African descent where I reside. I have long been an advocate of urban farming and see it as a really viable economic sector that has the potential to create a lot of green jobs while helping to mitigate everything from climate change to peak oil while also serving a a source of fresh food rather than the pablum that is defined as food by the industrial ag and food system.

Let's us Cuba and this post as an opportunity to reflect on the "special period" that exists in the US not only in the Black community but everywhere.

It's time to figure out how to finance the relocalization of the food system and severely limit paternalistic nonprofit programs that want to bring programs but not real green jobs and sustainable economic development to inner city communities where the land is available after years of neglect and disinvestment. It's time to shift the tradition of the assets, human and social capital of in particular communities of people of African descent largely benefit others.

The future is now for sustainable urban AND rural farming and the reemergence of local and regional food systems. Thanks to the Cuban PEOPLE for their resilience and inspiration as we move this movement forward in the US and globally.

Let's also remember that urban farming practiced and is important for food security and access all over, in particular the "developing" the world.

I am glad that we have the freedom to travel to Cuba from the UK, despite all the obstacles put in our way by the US Government, and have done so several times.

Here in the UK our TV screens were full of Israeli doctors helping out in Haiti. Very little was mentioned about Cuba's efforts.

Have a look at this:

http://www.counterpunch.org/kirk04012010.html

Then think how little money the Cubans have and how much they do to help their fellow human beings.

When the Earthquake struck in Pakistan the Cubans delivered 2000 medical staff and 5 field hospitals withing 48 hours. Most were women which was a vital contribution to a Muslim society where the men avoid medical treatment for their wives, daughters and sisters from male medics. Consequently the Cubans supplied far more treatments than medical staff from any other country.

What is it with the US who continues to persecute these fine people?

I think the last count is 300 assasination plots devised by the US Government against Castro. And the reason? Hmm, civil rights violations? - not bloody likely with our Reaganistic love of apartheid South Africa when it was in full glory.

Or the many innocents killed by Castro and his army? Nope, the US holds the record for killing innocent civilians of other countries since WW2, 8 million and counting.

Ah, yes, follow the money and the MIC. How can we forget our own miscreants. I mean, we booted out Guzman from Guatemala in the 1950s because United Fruit(now Chiquita) wanted more of a monopoly on serviant labored bananas. The Boeings' and Northrups' lobbyists can always pound at the door of our congressmen, hands filled with cash, demanding defense against the 'fidelistas' and their 'ilk'.

Just saw the full edition of the movie 'The North Star'(a film with Walter Huston showing the bravery of the Russian people during WW2) on the tube and was reminded of exactly why we have an embargo against Cuba and have always had a mindset against the Commie undertow. MGM's Goldwyn feared McCarthyism so much that he later edited this movie to remove any 'illusion' of Russian bravery in the Ukraine and the writer Lillian Hellman was blacklisted.

The United States is afraid that we will see that Castro was a brave revolutionary and defeated US sponsored Batista; that Communist Russia suffered 100s of times more than America or any Euro nation in WW2, for freedom against facist Hitler; and, of course, that communism never was a threat to the United States - except in the minds of US industrialists and corporate rapists and their stooges in congress.

I don't doubt that Castro is violating some human rights in Cuba, as is Chavez in Venezuela and Jintao in China. But I also don't doubt that those violations are blown out of proportion and our own violation of rights in the United States are minimized by the biggest corporate stooge of them all, the mainstream news media.

We should all remember that Castro and Cuba are somewhat warped by so many decades of persecution. What would YOU be like if you had been in such an abusive relationship with your neighbors for so long?

And why is it okay to deal with COMMUNIST CHINA but not socialist Latin American countries? Or how about Saudi Arabia - to where I'd like to ship all those nut-cases that want a 'religious' country' that lives by their god's rules. Of course, they have to TELL you the rules since none of their gods actually speak to anyone... (I've been to Spain and Italy and have seen what the strong influence of religion does to a region - poverty and fear rule.)

Cubans even went blind from the malnutrition from the embargo.

And don't forget when the USA invaded Graneda the USA Marines fought Cuban Doctors and Nurses.

While in Cuba I was asked how much it cost to elect a Senator. When told, they laughed at our "free elections", because in Cuba it is illegal for candidates to spend money on their campaigns. It is difficult for me to believe this.
Incidently, I am digging up my front yard lawn in preparation for an urban garden.