Cubans Use Much Less Energy to Produce a Much Higher Organic Food Yield

While there are many factors when it comes to determining what contributes to human health and longevity, there is no debating that access to good quality food is a key ingredient. What is fascinating is that there is no clear evidence that human health and longevity is improved, or even that more people have access to food, when an abundance of fossil fuel energy is available.

When Cuba hit peak oil in the early 90s due to sanctions and other factors, the country made drastic internal changes that have paid off in terms of health for the land and its people. The way that Cuba survived peak oil can serve as a positive working model for countries who are still highly dependent on oil, especially when it comes to food production.

Image Via: The Power Of Community

When Cuba's oil supply came to a halt, they immediately changed course by turning any and all available city plots into intensive urban farms.

50% of Cuba's agriculture now comes from urban farms. In the smaller towns, they produce 80 to 100% of the vegetables they need, eliminating the need to transport food long distances. The move back to a human and animal powered harvest, instead of heavy machinery, quickly created 140,000 new jobs in a country with a population 30 times smaller than the USA. In order to produce food without the use of fossil fuels, It was a matter of reclaiming land from the large scale industrial agricultural corporations. According to the documentary, The Power of Community, 80% of Cuba's agricultural production is now organic!

Since most oil used in the USA is related to food production, Cuba's agricultural model is an important one to investigate.

Image Via: The Power Of Community