Organic Futures blog

Cuba has been an inspiration to many people concerned with a post-Peak Oil world, proof of what can happen when an entire country must fall back on the collective genius of its’ population. When supplies of oil, agri-chemicals, machinery and food more or less dried up from the former USSR (about 1991), Cuba found itself in a very difficult situation indeed. The USA, of course, had banned any trading relations with the country. This became known as “the special period”.

People needed food, quickly. Rationing systems were put in place immediately, but at the same time huge effort was put in to food production. Before the special period Cuba’s agriculture chemical and oil use per acre was higher than that of the USA. Suddenly they had virtually no inputs to use…the answer? Organic market gardening.

This bit of film, from Monty Don’s Around the world in 80 gardens is nothing short of pure inspiration. It’s not just the quality of the organic vegetables, but the aesthetic beauty, the social benefits and sheer hard work and dedication to make it work that impresses.