Re: Cuba

**Scott Vlaun s*@moosepondarts.com**

I was in Cuba in the late 90's and people were coming from all over  
the world to learn about their  sustainable organic farming  
practices. It was remarkable to see such passion for small scale  
diversified farming, community gardens, vermiculture and beneficial  
insect production flourishing in a place that is not often thought of  
a world leader in anything but music and dancing. I haven't heard  
much lately about how things have progressed there, but I do hear  
that the US government is making it even more difficult to go there  
and learn from their research. The tours that were being offered by  
Food First have been cancelled. This is tragic for the organic  
movement here which has lots to learn from the cubanos.

Scott Vlaun
Moose Pond Arts+Ecology
Design Solutions for a Sustainable Future

35 Moose Pond Road
Otisfield, Maine 04270
207-739-2409 Studio
207-890-4099 Cell

On Jan 31, 2006, at 1:37 PM, DGreen wrote:

> Cuba - fascinating country - took my holidays there last year.   
> Free post
> secondary education with one of the highest literacy rates in the  
> world,
> free medical - no 30% of bankruptcies caused by medical problems,  
> about to
> get oil fields and US oilmen are having a bird with that find down  
> there
> that they can't access. Fascinating mix of races - all "Cuban" with no
> discrimination.  They export sunshine and tourism to Canadians and
> Europeans.
>
> Thought about promoting a garden eco tour there but decided it was  
> better to
> sit on the beach instead. :-)  And snorkel - fascinating undersea  
> gardens.
>
> Rough maquis countryside, typical of Carib.  Mountains are rough  
> country,
> lots of rock with specialized hot weather plants.  No flower  
> gardens to
> speak of except in tourist country and then they're well maintained  
> and
> appropriate to the heat/low water conditions. Lots of fresh  
> vegetables and
> bananas are plentiful.
>
> As for Che, he is a national hero - his picture is everywhere. As  
> are the
> Cuban 7 - and other national heroes - very anti-U.S with Guantanamo  
> Bay down
> the road it's a festering reminder of how different the U.S. gov't  
> treats
> this country compared to others.
>
> But the sunshine in the middle of a Canadian winter was something  
> to write
> about in my column when I got home.
>
> Doug
>
> Doug Green SGF Communications: e-publishing content
> Home: http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [g*@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of  
> eczekalski
> Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 1:00 PM
> To: 'Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum'
> Subject: Re: [GWL] Food for thought
>
> Hey Duane, why did they say Cuba?
>
> Esther Czekalski
> Who found out yesterday that Che Guavara (sp?) lived with life  
> threatening
> asthma
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: gardenwriters-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [g*@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Duane  
> Campbell
> Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 12:56 PM
> To: Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum
> Subject: Re: [GWL] Food for thought
>
>
> <snip>
> I feel the same way about government officials. As Robert Townsend  
> says,
> they need to get out occasionally and sell the shoes. Are there  
> problems
> with this? Yes. But not as many as there would be with the  
> alternatives. You
>
> could, for instance, insist that regulators have no experience in  
> the area
> they are regulating. Or you could require that all must be life-long
> government employees; that idea doesn't thrill me. Or you could  
> limit them
> to the universities, where views run the gamut from left to far  
> left. (My
> daughter is finishing up her PhD in a field that puts her in with the
> ecology types. At lunch one day they were bashing America, and she,  
> while
> admitting there were problems, asked if they could name a better  
> country.
> There was unanimity around the table: Yes, Cuba.)
>
> I managed to get through the '60a without catching the residual  
> hatred of
> corporations. Yes, they do things that are wrong. But without large
> corporations we would all still be living within ten miles of the  
> place we
> were born on 40 cares with a mule. A cotton clad organic coop could  
> not
> build a Buick or put computers in the majority of American homes at  
> a price
> an average American can afford.
>
> D
>
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