Abstract
This paper examines COVID-era food scarcity, health, and inflation in Havana. It assesses the refusal to consume genetically modified fish, even amid hunger and malnutrition. It considers the gendered expectations of women to feed their families and analyzes how Cuban women navigate Cuba’s failed food ration system. By tracing what women refuse to purchase, cook, and serve their families based on notions of “taste”/disgust and religious beliefs, as well as where and how Cuban women obtain food, the study provides an assessment of the ecologically fraught measures taken by the Cuban state to increase access to a source of protein that is rejected by an otherwise hungry and malnourished population. The paper considers the strategies of survival deployed by Cuban women to feed their families. Utilizing as examples the refusal to consume genetically modified sources of protein, the detrimental environmental impacts of genetically modified food sources, and the lack of access to sufficient protein via the food ration system, the study provides a window into the gendered expectations and demands women face daily to feed their families.
Presenters
Karina CespedesAssociate Professor, Philosophy, Humanities and Cultural Studies, University of Central Florida, Florida, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Cuba, Covid, Food scarcity, Genetically modified protein, Taste, Religion, Hunger
