Centerfield

The traditional solution was to concentrate the grains harvested by fermenting and distilling them, making them easier to transport. Any word on increased alcohol consumption in Cuba? :-)

That strategy only occurs AFTER their bellies were full.

Although it would be interesting to see numbers on ethanol production in Cuba.

In a lot of ways Cuba seems like India after it decided to pursue the A-bomb. I have to think that isolation from American markets is making them stronger and more self reliant. We may actually be doing them a favor by not trading with them.

I would not say it is making the country stronger. I think it makes Castro stronger. The charade of the trade and travel embargo should end. We are financing the country as it is via the Cuban exiles. Why should we treat Cuba any differently then we did China or the USSR. Cuba is in such poor shape that if we just open the gates of trade and offer it too the Cuban people, castro will lose one of largest crutches. I dare say that without the embargo, Castro falls a long time ago.

Straying a bit afield from the original topic, but I travelled to Cuba myself, and that's exactly the opinion of most people there: the embargo supports Castro because he can scapegoat the U.S. for all the problems that Cuba has.

But that said, it's extremely interesting about the improved diet and weight loss. I'm not completely sure about this; one thing that I saw was that it was extremely difficult for the average Cuban to find fresh foods. The black market is extensive: the shady-looking fella saying psssst, wanna buy something and leading you into a dark alley to view his products in the back of a car all ready to take off at the slightest sign of trouble is far more likely to have eggs, tomatoes, or other produce than drugs...

I also know that many people still try to migrate to the cities away from the rural areas (they have travel and intra country "passports" to try and restrict this) so it's certainly not all roses. Oh, and any of these solutions are certainly more doable on a small island...I can't see this translating very well to larger countries.

Interesting, though. Very interesting.

It occurs after the rural producers have enough to eat and start producing surplus for market, Bob. It's cheaper and easier to move surplus produce in liquid form. Indeed, it looks like that was a major part of Cuba's problem--because of the Soviet subsidies they were exporting much of their agricultural production as rum to the Soviets. They were geared up to produce luxury produce for export. Sugar cane for sugar and rum, tobacco, citrus fruits for Moscow markets. In return, the Soviets shipped them cheap oil and cheap food staples and foreign exchange. Very cheap oil, far below market. I'll bet their ethanol production has declined enormously since the "Special" Period began.

That strategy helped collapse the USSR--the downhill flow of resources to client states. And it didn't do Cuba any favors. They used that money surplus to buy their food. When that subsidy vanished, they got hungry. Their entire economy was geared to living on extremely cheap oil (adjusted "price" of just a few dollars a barrel), and they had to learn from scratch how to live on what resources they actually had. Sounds like the Soviet subsidies were close on half the Cuban economy.

What interested me in the article is that it was the Cuban people, and not their government, that came up with the solutions. They've adjusted despite, not because of, their government. The best the government did was get out of the way--and they've started to roll back much of that looseness in recent months.

Still a big protein shortage to deal with--they're eating gerbils! Shouldn't have been a problem for Cuba, except that they've so restricted the fishing fleet to prevent refugee flight that they just don't have much of any domestic fisheries industry.

Tully,

The point about protein is critical. The most popular source-- meat-- is relatively expensive to develop. But that doesn't alleviate the need for it in the human diet.

One of the best (and quietest) accomplishments of the Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team's Korean contingent was sponsoring a multi-million dollar project to bring over Korean technical advisors and a large start-up supply of soy beans from which they could teach the Afghans to grow, develop, and prepare soy products for meals (the latter being crucial since not without the right preparation, people would rather starve than eat soy!)

It's been slow going, of course, but if it sticks, it will be a great source of protein for Afghans, who are generally malnourished and may never have the economy needed to support widespread consumption of chicken, turkey, and beef.

Interesting! So how do you make soy edible with out using high-tech manufacturing?
Grind it into a flour and use it in stews and bread?

The Chinese have been doing it for thousands of years. Tofu, among other things. You can also just roast and salt soybeans. They're not beer nuts, but they're not bad. You can get enough complete proteins from a vegetarian diet, but it can be tricky.

Cuba would be a good place for aquaculture of shrimp and tilapia--but that requires some actual capital investment. And you'd still have to move the stuff to market.