Agriculture

What agricultural systems were used in the Caribbean during times of food insecurity and changing labor forces? How did this change the foodways in these respective countries and regions? How did the shifts in agricultural practices influence race, gender roles, and health practices? How did this affect their economies?

Caribbean sugar planters sought new sources of cheap labor after African slavery. Estimated 60 - 200 Chinese indentured laborers (coolie system) were brought to Cuba between 1853 and 1874 (Tomich, 1991).

Self sufficiency is the way to go! It was the only way to feed the population --> So the government banned sugarcane altogether (American Agricultural Economics Association, n.d.)

Produced sugarcane extensivly

The Soviets provided Cuba with 63% of its food imports and 90% of its gasoline (Buncombe, 2006).

Dollarization: U.S. imports to Cuba but the groceries end up in military linked stores that only take foreign currentcy → and cubans are paid in pesos.

Loss of imported fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, parts, and petroleum (Altieri & Altieri, 2018)

Agroecology technology supported by the state/university research, education, and extensions system. There had been researchers, outreach specialists, and faculty devoted to agroecology before the crisis. The crisis not only brought them to the forefront, but universities, research centers, and agricultural policies were reoriented to make agroecology the dominant paradigm (American Agricultural Economics Association, n.d.).

Machista Society: Men are not involved much in household activities. Women take care of their children, but at the same time, they participate fully in all production activities (Dueñas et al., 2009).

Compared to other countries, Cuba was a minor producer in 1760 despite ideal
soil and climate conditions for the cultivation of sugar cane (Tomich, 1991).

By 1868, Cuba supplied nearly thirty percent of the world sugar market

slave population reached nearly half a million

After Columbus: rapid deforestation – use land to grow sugarcane

1880 - Spanish government eliminated juridical category of “slave” and replaced with “patronato”. Patronato legally binded former slaves to work for their former owners as “apprentices” for a a stipend until they bought their way out of this “apprenticeship”…AKA their freedom (Pite, 2003).

Patrocinados (“apprentices”, former slaves), gave way for slaves to raise and sell livestock. However, plantation owners would restrict access to commerce. Some patrocinados purchased their freedom by using the food it provided them not for their own sustenance, but to fatten their hogs for the market (sold for $800) (Pite, 2003).

Plantations owners decreased food rations and demanded the “negroes” sell their hogs so they stop raising them in the future. Those who complied would receive a 50 cent raise per month. The “negroes” refused to accept the deal, instead requesting a raise of $3.50 per month in exchange for selling their hogs, as they understood their economic rights (Pite, 2003).

With the plantation owners’ fear and disdain of the “negroes” challenging their authority and potential of buying their freedom, they took away the “negroes’” hogs to decrease their access to revenue. The absence of hogs led to a waste of resources as hogs would have eaten their scraps, and in exchange, they could have lard, fresh meat, and jerked meat. Plantation owners did not want to give the hogs back to the negro population so they were raised in a distant house, away from all laborers, in an enclosed livestock farm (Pite, 2003).

After emancipation, plantation owners maintained hierarchies by excluding negroes from the eating house, to which the negroes requested increase in rations and said there is nobody to cook for them because they have sent off the negro women. Enslaved women had been responsible for cooking for them previously (Pite, 2003).

In the yards of Cuban homes, there was always a bucket where each day, food scraps were deposited. That mix of leftovers was called sancocho, just like the local dish. However, the shortages and the food crisis means that, at the end of the week, there is very little to throw into the bucket to feed livestock (Robinson, 2022).

The Spanish realized that as long as the peaceful population was able to move about freely, transport supplies, cultivate crops, and tend to their livestock, Spain could not win the war --> Set food reserves on fire, razed homes, seized or killed livestock

Cuban War of Independence
(1895 - 1898)

Control of food = control of people/labor force

In 1993, ~80% of the farmland was held by the state, and over half was turned over to workers in the form of cooperatives. Farmers lease state land rent-free in perpetuity in exchange for meeting production quotas. They may even pass on the land as long as it continues to be farmed. A 1994 reform permitted farmers to sell their excess production at farmers' markets (American Agricultural Economics Association, n.d.).

“For those of us involved in sustainable farming, to open relations with the U.S or to lift the blockade means that many agrochemical companies want to invest in Cuba. These companies investing in Cuba doesn’t mean there would be enough food for everyone. 1.2 billion people worldwide are hungry. Despite more agro-chemical investment, despite having warehouses full of food, these are companies that make profit from the food they produce. Just because they produce, doesn’t solve the hunger problem.”

Ajiaco Cubano:
Cuban stew made with meat, root vegetables and corn. The origins of ajiaco can be traced back to West African cuisine.

Lechon asado con mojo:
Roasted suckling pig with “magic powder” as a marinade or sauce

Pork arrived in Cuba with Christopher Columbus in 1493 when he brought eight pigs on his voyage --> beginning of the pork industry in Cuba

The first enslaved Africans were taken to Cuba in 1513. Many of these first Africans were forced to work in the mines of Cuba as replacements for the rapidly disappearing enslaved indigenous Taino-Arawak labourers. (Minority Rights Group, 2024)

Provisions: the Roots of Caribbean Cooking: The Taino taught enslaved people “methods for [yuca's] processing and consumption"
(Rousseau & Rousseau, 2018).

African dishes “such as fufu (a mash of plantains or starchy roots)” parallel contemporary Cuban dishes such as mashed yucca or plantains (Dawdy 56). Perhaps yucca even provided comfort and familiarity to enslaved Africans because it was reminiscent of homeland crops (Rousseau & Rousseau, 2018).

Anti-blackness embedded in capitalism and unsustainable agriculture

The legalization of the U.S. dollar in 1993 aimed to stimulate external remittances and improve access to foreign currency, helping to address shortages and boost economic activity (Montalván, 1994).

Indentured Chinese laborers were seen as necessary to operate the steam engine and the new machinery that industrialized sugar production as slaves were seen as incapable of learning how to operate this new technology. However, there were a high number of skilled slaves performing these technically advanced jobs and some of the most mechanized plantations relied on slave labor. Despite this, the sugar industry revolution led Cuba to change its labor force to wage-workers (Tomich, 1991).

Oregano, calendula, Japanese mint, German chamomile, aloe vera, eucalyptus, banana leaves and turmeric

Slavery in a different font —> Apprenticeship: up to 6 years ‘learning’ how to be free. They worked as before for their former owner, for three-quarters of their time, and could work for others for the rest of the week and receive a small wage.

In the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Bermuda the plantation owners realised that it was cheaper to pay a daily wage than to feed and house their apprentices (ex-slaves). The plantation owners therefore freed their slaves at once
(The End of Slavery | Apprenticeship: Slavery by Another Name? | Freedom From Slavery | Against Slavery | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol, n.d.)

The campaigners’ pressure finally won. Parliament voted for complete emancipation (freedom without apprenticeship) to take effect from 1 August 1838. 750,000 people were freed. If slaves wanted to, they could work as wage earning employees on the plantations. But the dream of the freed slaves was to own their own land and work for themselves. In Jamaica, many abandoned the plantations in search of their own land to cultivate, taking over waste land in the island. Elsewhere in the Caribbean, where there was no empty land to cultivate, many had no option but to continue working on plantations for their former owner for low wages (The End of Slavery | Apprenticeship: Slavery by Another Name? | Freedom From Slavery | Against Slavery | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol, n.d.).

And some comparisons to other Caribbean countries

Compared to Antigua and Bermuda

Plant-based nutrition has been cultivated by Afro-Cuban communities since times of slavery, and since the 1990s this knowledge has been used in Cuba’s official urban agriculture programs.