Does Cuba Have Enough Food For Itself?

Cuba has always had to deal with a five-decade long trade embargo with the United States that only came to an end less than two years ago.

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Even now, with the Obama administration having normalized diplomatic relations with Cuba and tourism restrictions becoming less stringent, the influx of new visitors has created an unintended consequence for the Cuban people.

Some of their favorite foods are becoming more and more scarce, as high-end restaurants and hotels are either buying up such items as beer and wine, or are driving up the price of such basic staples as peppers and onions, according to a fascinating new report in the New York Times.

In large part, the Times said the issue was a combination of a growing economy mixed with negligence and short-sightedness. Free-market reforms have created an atmosphere where the state-run markets – which 90 percent of Cubans utilize – can no longer compete with commercial markets or even the black market in pricing.

Vegetables and produce are being quickly scooped up by those who can afford – namely the more than 1,600 private restaurants that serve visitors to the island that have sprung up from the 100 such food establishments that existed only five years ago.

Little to no provisions were made for the increase in tourism. More than 3.5 million people took a trip to Cuba last year; the population of the island is just 11 million. A Times reporter visited a state-run market where rice, beans and starches were aplenty, but tomatoes, green peppers, onions, lettuce, garlic, limes, pineapples and cilantro were non-existent.

Juan Alejandro Triana, an economist at the University of Havana, told the paper that “The government has consistently failed to invest properly in the agriculture sector. We don’t just have to feed 11 million people anymore. We have feed more than 14 million. In the next five years, if we don’t do something about it, food will become a national security issue here.”