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nnot 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 may 18 2008 oil food and agrotherapy posted by beetknits under agribusiness food crisis oil tags agroecology agronomy agrotherapy anti hunger chickens city farm city farming city garden city gardening community supported agricutulture crisis csa cuba energy bulletin energy demands family farms farm bill farm policy farming farms food bank food crisis food miles food policy food prices food riots food security foodshed future green revolution havana cuba hunger industrial agriculture natural disaster oil peak oil planning rooftop gardening shepherd bliss silent tsunami small business small scale farming subsidies subsistence gardening suburban agriculture therapy un united nations urban agriculture urban farm urban fringe urban garden world bank world food program leave a comment published on 17 may 2008 by energy bulletin archived on 17 may 2008 by shepherd bliss petroleum supplies slowly dwindle as demand rapidly soars so the prices of gasoline and oil that supply modern societies with their industrial production of food will go up up and away a radically different future than the oil energized twentieth century is dawning let s face it our world has become increasingly maddening bad news mounts each day unending wars financial crises earthquakes hurricanes and cyclones killing thousands chaotic climate change vanishing pollinating bees and polar bears rising oceans thinning forests and a host of human created or worsened threats we live in uncertain times with an even more uncertain future we face unprecedented unpredictable converging threats what can one do to remain somewhat sane the ostrich approach of denial by burying one s head in the sand will not be effective or life enhancing it is a good time for an increasing number of people to return to the multiple benefits and pleasures of growing at least part of their own food by gardening and farming in addition to satisfying the need to eat and drink farming can also help deal with depression passivity and other forms of psychological suffering it can help treat both the body and the soul one of the many good things that farms based on nature s patterns can do is help balance people much psychological suffering and even mental illnesses have to do with imbalances which characterize modern society before turning to drugs one can at least trying visiting farms and perhaps volunteering to work there or one can connect with farms in collaboration with another treatment program farming can be done in ways that preserve the earth and put humans in direct contact with it small farms are the most productive on earth according to the may 11 new york times article change we can stomach by farmer and chef dan barber a four acre farm in the united states nets on average 1 400 per acre a 1 364 acre farm nets 39 an acre he writes farming has the potential to go through the greatest upheaval since the green revolution bringing harvests that are more meaningful sustainable and yes even more flavorful barber contends since growing one s own food is not possible for everyone it is also a good time to establish direct relationships with local farmers and shop more at farmers markets farm stands and by subscribing to community supported agriculture csas urban agriculture farms on the urban fringe and rooftop gardening are becoming increasingly popular the large city of havana cuba grows 70 of its own food necessity will change how people get their food in the near future many americans take their food sources for granted assuming that super markets will be able to always supply them with what they need having lived in hawai i when delivery disruptions and the lack of transportation across the ocean left bare shelves in food stores i know the panic this can cause the silent tsunami misery index and mud cakes a silent tsunami of hunger sweeps the globe reports the head of the united nation s world food program josette sheeran speaking in late april at a food summit in london the heightened hunger threat endangers 20 million of the world s poorest children and is pushing 100 million people into poverty this is the new face of hunger the millions of people who were not in the urgent hunger category six months ago but now are sheeran reports the world s misery index is rising during 2008 food riots broke out in the caribbean africa and asia you are seeing the return of the food riot one of the oldest forms of collective action commented raj patel in an april 25 san francisco chronicle article the university of california at berkeley scholar wrote the new book stuffed and starved power and the hidden battle for the world food system the world bank estimates that food prices have risen 83 in three years other estimates are in the 60 and 70 percent range even in the wealthy united states we have recently seen rationing of rice and other staples by food giants such as costco and wal mart s sam s clubs the two biggest warehouse retail chains such trends are likely to continue and are creating stockpiling and hoarding in the poorest districts of haiti there is now a brisk trade in mud cakes writes patel in an article titled the troubles with food mothers feed the biscuits made with water salt margarine and clay to their children the cake puts a dampener on hunger at least for a couple of hours but leaves your mouth dry and bitter for several hours more he continues industrial agriculture will be one of the many aspects of human life on the planet hit by the dwindle demand oil trend and the related peaks of other fossil fuels such as natural gas industrial agriculture depends upon petroleum in many ways to run tractors and other machines to make chemical pesticides and fertilizers and to fuel the trucks that transport food an average of 1500 miles from field to fork oil is the most important ingredient in most of conventional food as the dwindle demand rate intensifies food will be less available and more expensive famine is likely survival will require that more people return to an earlier energy supply muscle power as someone who made a transition in the early 1990 s while in my late 40s from a livelihood based on college teaching and related intellectual activities to one based on farming i can report that there are many advantages to such a change i feel better as a result of living on the land growing some of my own food and sharing that organic food and the farm itself with others i have found my local place in 2003 i accepted a great job offer in hawai i but after a couple of wonderful years i felt so homesick that i returned to my farm so this will be a report from the farm front which will focus on some of the psychological benefits of farming the multiple consequences of a diminishing supply of humanity s major energy source at this point in history will include hardships stress and suffering there are many ways of dealing psychologically with such matters including with family friends and professional counselors this article will explore what i have come to describe as agropsychology and agrotherapy i was trained to be a counselor quite frankly i was not good at delivering individual therapy i got too emotional and involved i did not adequately develop the necessary professional armor and shield i did not take enough distance from the people i was working with or have enough impulse control so i shifted more to teaching group work and writing in the time since my more conventional psychological training some forty years ago self disclosure and emotional men have become more acceptable as sex roles and professional codes have evolved ecopsychology and ecotherapy sierra club books published ecopsychology restoring the earth healing the mind in l996 the term refers to the emerging synthesis of the psychological and the ecological the book s editor theodore roszak writes that ecology needs psychology psychology needs ecology roszak reports on a l990 conference entitled psychology as if the whole earth mattered the sierra club plans to publish the book s sequel ecotherapy healing with nature in mind in march of 2009 my chapter farming sweet darkness poetry and healing is scheduled to be part of that book after finishing my contribution i began to realize that what i was writing about could be called agrotherapy which is the practice of agropsychology which are sub sets of ecopsychology and ecotherapy farms have historically been healing places for both those who live and work there and those who visit farm tours and even overnight farm stays are becoming increasingly popular as examples of ecotourism the small farm program at the university of california at davis sonoma county farm trails and daily acts are among the many groups that promote such tours simply put by living on a farm and working the land on a regular basis i have become a healthier person physically and mentally in recent years i have been hosting an increasing number of farm tours at kokopelli farm in the sebastopol countryside sonoma county northern california community school and religious groups as well as families and friends come to the farm which grows mainly organic berries and fruit and cares for chickens my visitors tend to feel better from their time on this traditional farm something positive usually happens to them being outside in nature can benefit people people typically loose sight of chronological time they can fall into berry time or chicken time which tend to be slower than the human made clock and often more fun and stress reducing they sometimes lose their restraint and order wanting to sprint ahead or go off the path as if they were animals which they are chicken wisdom and agrotherapy this year i returned to teaching psychology part time at sonoma state university i sometimes t...