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icos peak oil pesticides population subsistence gardening sustainable sustainable agriculure sustainable energy sustainable food tractor transportation tricycle urban agrarian urban agrarian movement urban agriculture urban farm urban garden urban gardening urban planning vegetables leave a comment city gardens abound in cuba where 70 of vegetables and herbs are local and organic havana june 4 2008 cbs reinaldo gil cbs this story was written by cbs news producer portia siegelbaum in havana buy local eat seasonal eat organic all now commonplace admonitions in the united states but while none of these slogans are household words in cuba 70 percent of the vegetables and herbs grown on the island today are organic and the urban gardens where they are raised are usually within walking distance of those who will consume them so in one blow cuba reduced the use of fossil fuels in the production and transportation of food and they began doing this nearly 20 years ago the island nation s move to organic and sustainable farming did not arise from its environmental consciousness although there was an element of that also the main reason was the beginning of the collapse of the soviet union in 1989 cuba s only source of petroleum and main trading partner at that time overnight long lines formed at gas stations that all too often ran out before all their customers could fill up traffic was virtually non existent chinese flying pigeon bicycles replaced both private and public transportation puestos as cubans call the produce section of their rationed grocery stores displayed only empty bins as agriculture ground to a halt chemical pesticides and fertilizers vanished tractors became relics of a former time oxen pulled the plows that furrowed the fields finding food for the dinner table became a day long drudge cubans visibly lost weight the communist youth daily juventud rebelde ran articles on edible weeds daily caloric intake dropped to about 1600 calories organic agriculture made its appearance at that moment as a necessity and that necessity helped us to advance to consolidate and expand more or less uniformly in all 169 municipalities says adolfo rodriguez at 62 he is cuba s top urban agrarian with 43 years experience in agriculture he says there are now 300 000 people employed directly in urban agriculture without counting those who are raising organic produce in their backyards as part of a state encouraged grassroots movement in all rodriguez claims nearly a million people are getting their hands dirty organically with 76 percent of cuba s population of just under 11 million living in cities the importance of this form of farming cannot be over emphasized says rodriguez i think that cuba s urban agriculture has come to stay adolfo rodriguez urban agrarian the urban gardens have been dubbed organoponicos those located in never developed empty lots primarily consist of raised beds more complicated are those created in the space left by a collapsed building not uncommon in cities like havana where much of the housing is in a very deteriorated state and where all it takes is a heavy tropical rainfall followed by relentless sunshine to bring down a structure we have to truck in the soil before anything can be planted explains rodriguez the basic issue is restoring fertility the importance of producing compost organic fertilizers humus created by worms he says in a majority of cases the fruits and vegetables are freshly picked every morning and go on sale just with a few feet of where they grew only in exceptional cases such as the densely population municipality of old havana as the colonial section of the capital is named do the organic fruits and vegetables travel a kilometer or so by a tricycle or horse drawn cart to reach consumers havana residents line up at the organoponico at 44th street and fifth avenue which grows a wide variety of vegetables fruits and herbs cbs manuel muniz lucky are the havana residents who live near the organoponico at 44th street and fifth avenue occupying nearly an entire city block it grows a wide variety of vegetables fruits and herbs as well as ornamental plants it will even sell fresh basil shoots for customers to plant in their own herb garden on a recent day customers were offered the following fresh produce at reasonable prices mangos plantains basil parsley lettuce garlic celery scallions collard greens black beans watermelon tomatoes malanga spinach and sweet potatoes luckily for cubans in general organic here is not equivalent to expensive overhead costs are low the produce is sold from simple aluminum kiosks signs listing the day s offer and prices are handmade electricity is used only for irrigation and no transportation other than walking from the raised beds to the kiosks is involved the result everything is fresh local and available convincing cubans to buy this produce especially the less familiar vegetables so as to prepare earth friendly meals presented a hurdle the ideal meal on the island includes roast pork rice and beans and yucca a lettuce and tomato salad was popular but the idea of vegetable side dishes or an all vegetarian meal was inconceivable to most we re cultivating some 40 plus species but you have to know who your customers are says rodriguez we can t plant a lot of broccoli right now because its not going to sell but we re making progress for example he notes in the beginning practically no one bought spinach now all the spinach planted is sold persuading people to eat carrots according to rodriguez was an uphill battle we had to begin supplying them to the daycare centers so as to develop a taste for this most common of root vegetables the queen of the winter crop is lettuce the spring summer queen is the chinese string bean cuba s blazing summer sun doesn t allow for growing produce out of its season even under cover except in rare circumstances the saving of heritage fruits vegetables and even animals has also gotten a boost from the urban agrarian movement the chayote a fleshy pear shaped single seeded fruit had virtually disappeared from the market now rodriguez says 130 of cuba s 169 municipalities are growing the fruit that many remember from their grandmother s kitchen repertoire in which it was treated as a vegetable often stuffed and baked we are working to rescue fruit orchards that are in danger of extinction stresses rodriguez we ve planted fields with fruit species that many of today s children have never even seen such as the sapote to save these species we ve created specialized provincial botanical gardens he explains similarly the urban agrarian movement is rescuing native animal species such as the creole goat and the cubalaya chicken the only native cuban poultry species currently spiraling global food prices are hitting the island hard cuba has been importing just over 80 percent of the food consumed domestically the government is making more land and supplies available to farmers and this may well include chemical fertilizers and pesticides in an attempt to greatly reduce this foreign dependency adolfo rodriguez cuba s top urban agrarian cbs reinaldo gil rodriguez does not believe this push to quickly increase agricultural output will negatively impact on the urban organic movement even during the 1990s known in cuba as the special period he says the potato crop continued to receive chemical pesticides and fertilizers and even today the 30 percent of the non organic produce includes for example large scale plantings of tomatoes for industrial processing i think that cuba s urban agriculture has come to stay concludes rodriguez that there is a little increase in the application of fertilizers and pesticides for specific crops is normal but that s not to say that the country is going to shift away from organic farming to turn our organic gardens into non organic ones june 4 2008 growing in seattle food aid from the home front posted by beetknits under food not lawns food policy hunger poverty projects and organizations seattle urban agriculture urban fruit trees urban planning tags americorps anti hunger canning city farm city farmer city garden community community gardening community harvest emergency food farmers market food bank food not lawns food security front yard garden fruit fruit tree harvest grocery homemade hunger hunger relief immigrant farmers lettuce link low income marra farm northwest p patch pi puget sound rooftop gardening rooftops and containers seattle seattle tilth seattle youth garden works solid ground subsistence gardening sustainable sustainable agriculture urban agriculture urban farm urban farmer urban fruit gleaning urban garden vegetables wa washington yard 2 comments seattle known as the emerald city to some has urban agriculture popping up all over the place i m actually going there in the fall to work with seattle youth garden works as one of their americorps garden coordinators i m so excited i can t wait to be part of this awesome community here s an article that was recently in the pi about urban gardening and food security in seattle below that are a ton of links to urban gardening stuff in seattle enjoy gordon a lead gardener at seattle youth garden works holds up the bucket of compost he s been speading written by jennifer langston for the seattle post intelligencer june 3 2008 instead of fighting hunger with grocery store handouts some see part of the solution in gardens apartment balconies and front yards over the past five years the amount of fruit and vegetables grown or harvested in seattle neighborhoods for food banks and meal programs has doubled to more than 44 000 pounds though just a fraction of what fuels the emergency food pipeline it will help meet unprecedented needs this summer given rising prices and lines of low income people that have ballooned since the holidays it s really key to our success said rick jump executive director of the white center food bank which has seen its weekly demand increase by nearly 40 percent in the past several months we re all out there striving to find resources soon the food bank will start getting apples and plums from west seattle yards part of a neighborhood fruit tree harvest program pioneered four years ago by solid ground a social service organization there will also be fresh vegetables from gardens worked by community harvest of southwest seattl e a new volunteer group also offering canning gardening and tree care classes at senior centers and local grocery stores we re trying to increase access to local fresh fruits and vegetables not only by providing them but also by teaching people how to grow and preserve their own said founder and west seattle resident aviva furman at city hall conversations are under way to figure out how to expand programs enabling low income gardeners to sell produce directly to urban consumers generally it s illegal to sell from city p patches except for a small market garden program allowing immigrant farmers in public housing developments to sell weekly bags of greens and produce even foodies are struggling to shed some of the movement s preciousness peopled by those with the time to debate local vs organic or make handmade truffle pasta from scratch and become more egalitarian unfortunately people can get really snotty about where their food comes from said willi galloway a seattle tilth board member who has worked to spread organic gardening to lower income communities it s something that s fun that everyone can do and i hope our city becomes a place where everyone has a place to grow their food regardless of income at a recent container gardening class at the white center food bank regina bash scooped dirt from the bed of a pickup truck with a yogurt cup and poured it into a bucket she planted a sturdy tomato plant in one pot with salad greens carrots and radishes sharing another there were discussions on the best way to pick sweet peas often and protect roots carefully experts answered questions on the science of propagation and the art of watering at the end bash carefully loaded one pot in a backpack stuffed the other in a rolling duffel bag and headed toward the bus stop i ve always wanted cherry tomatoes because i love them said bash who lives in an apartment with no yard but i have a balcony so my little patio is waiting for me when i get home a few blocks away at newly renovated white center heights park 17 virgin garden plots will be tended by local residents and food bank clients this summer katie rains a former rat city rollergirl has volunteered to grow vegetables and herbs specifically for the food bank they get a lot of produce donations said the 25 year old evergreen state college student but the things they re not getting are more of the cultural foods bok choy chinese cabbage cilantro peppers eggplant immigrant farmers at seattle housing authority developments such as new holly and high point have been selling produce out of community gardens there for the last decade now the city neighborhoods department that oversees p patches and community gardens is considering how to widen the program to include other low income gardeners that could involve making more land available or creating farm stands or other means to distribute local produce but a major expansion would likely require partners from the private sector said rich macdonald the p patch program manager one complication is a state ban on allowing people to profit from public resources that s why some have entertained creating market gardens or urban agriculture training programs on private land owned by churches individuals or other community organizations it s a nice stable little program but it s little macdonald said of the market garden program and it s hard to imagine without a lot of resources that it would get much bigger paul haas development director for solid ground has just that kind of ambitious goal acquire 100 acres over the next 10 years for food bank low income and immigrant farmers the thing that s been lacking in this is a great tangible vision like the kennedy space program he said it starts with here s two acres we have this site let s do it last week emiko keller stopped by west seattle s high point market garden on the first day of the season picking up a bag of parsley spinach tah tsoi greens radishes bok choy and salad fixings high point market garden her family splits a half share which costs 310 for roughly four months with a neighbor down the street i like the feeling of this kind of community she said after giving gardener hien vinh nguyen a warm hug and i like the fact that i get things i don t normally see at the store the garden s proceeds will be split among five families this year including nguyen s a former south vietnamese army officer he spent 13 years in a hanoi prison where he grew beans rice potatoes and vegetables on the prison farm in 1994 he immigrated to seattle and helped build two community gardens ...
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