Check out the Cuban agricultural changes since 1989. The whole island of Cuba is now basically one large organic garden. The Cuban agricultural experience in dealing with very expensive oil, fertilizers and pesticides may be a good model for us when the oil peak hits our economy.
by James K. Sayre
In the late 1980s, the economy of Cuba took a very large nasty hit with the collapse of the Soviet communism in eastern Europe and Russia. The Cubans basically lost their major markets for agricultural exports. The Cubans were exporting large amounts of sugar produced from sugar cane for sale to eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The Cubans also lost low cost fuel, fertilizer and pesticides, which had been subsidized for many years by the Soviet Union. These outside changes forced the Cubans to reorganize the organization and operation of their farming system. The large mechanized government-run farms were broken up into much smaller family-sized farms, which were operated on a private basis (even though the government retained actual title to the land). These new family-sized farms were mainly organic in operation.
Some useful links about Cuban agriculture (if necessary do a site search for "cuban agriculture"):
www.foodfirst.org web site at: Food First.org
www. Cuba Organic Support Group (UK) cosg.org.uk.greencuba/ web site at: Cuba Organic Support Group
www.washingtonfreepress.org web site at: Washington (State) Free Prss
www.cubafacts.com web site at: Cuba Facts
//yeoldeconsciousnessshoppe.com web site at: Ye Olde Consciousness Shoppe
Some useful links about peak oil and itsaftermath:
www.oilcrash.com web site at: oil crash
www.oilcrisis.com web site at: Oil crisis
www.hubbertpeak.com web site at: Hubbert peak (of oil production)
www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net web site at: Life after the oil crash
www.peakoil.org web site at: Peak oil
www.fromthewilderness.com web site at: From the wilderness.com
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