Nineteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The current pandemic situation reveals a crisis scenario in Cuba, but it also offers strategic opportunities to design and implement a transformed and improved agri-food model. Some important challenges to food security in Cuba include shrinking quality arable land, decline in soil fertility, high oil prices, increasingly limited supplies of water, climate change, and the economic uncertainty that characterizes this Antillean Island. One proposed solution is the implementation of Slow Farms in Cuba, an agroecologically-focused network of farms that cooperate to achieve food security along with the necessary social, environmental, and economic sustainability. The Slow Cuban Farms idea arose in 2015 to protect Cuban ecosystems and preserve the cultural heritage, traditions, local ecologies, knowledge, and values. Founding experts and leaders of agroecology and Slow Food in Cuba, proposed in 2015 a methodology to evaluate the agri-food system model. In 2018, they used it to assess several farms in the country. In this work we (1) describe the first Slow Cuban Farms: Finca del Medio, Finca Vista Hermosa, Finca La China, and Finca Tungasuk using interviews, a panel of experts, and existing documents; (2) describe the evaluation methodology proposed by Slow Food Cuba and use it to assess Slow Farms in Cuba; (3) propose new indicators for the framework, and (4) determine the contributions and perspectives of the farms at the community level. Early results suggest that his growing network of resilient farms with agroecological values can serve as an example for Cuba and the rest of the world.

Presenters

Laura Beatriz Montes De Oca Vázquez
Student, Bachelor's Degree in Gastronomic Sciences and Cultures, University of Georgia, United States, Georgia, United States

Maria Navarro
Professor, Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication, University of Georgia, United States