Sustainability In Cuba Essay

FRESH is a documentary by Ana Sofia Joanes, she explores the consequences of our current agricultural system and documents the work of farmers, activists, non-profit organizations and business that advocate for sustainable agricultural practices to address the problem. The film presents the farmers from Shenandoah Valley that practice traditional farming by raising and keeping their chickens, pigs, cattle and soil in traditional ways that attempt to imitate the way in which nature naturally works on nutrient and energy cycling. These practices challenge the industrial agricultural model that use a high input of resources to produce large amounts of a single crops/species in designated areas known as monocultures. Monoculture agricultures relies

economic growth comes from agriculture and exports to and from Europe. Since America has had an embargo on Cuba since 1962 neither countries trade with each other because of many disagreements about governing techniques and Fidel's unwillingness to comply with U.S. instructions. Cuba’s long history and culture has contributed to many economic and social growth through out the world, but Cuba is still struggling to try to stable their economy.

American author and journalist, Michael Pollan, in the article titled, “Why Bother?”, published in The New York Times Magazine, addresses the topic of environmental issues and argues that the phrase, “why bother?”, is what is keeping society from changing the ways citizens use up resources. His main focus of reasoning is supported by his idea that specialization has a significant role in reducing the average consumer’s chance of changing their lifestyle and also highlights that planting your own garden would be a task which in turn would benefit the consumer in many ways, while also decreasing their carbon footprint size. He concludes that these actions taking place could have a chain reaction that would spread these practices across the nation and lead to positive impacts on the environment.

The environment is among some of the top issues to be looked upon by the human population in the world today. Sustainability is a word often times used when speaking of this subject. This is a concept represented in the articles “Sustainability” by Christian R. Weisser and “Attention Whole Foods Shoppers” by Robert Paarlberg. Each author addresses the issue in different ways; one giving examples of this issue and the other clearly defining it. Each author is writing to spread awareness of this issue. As overlapping topics, each article has similarities and differences to the other.

However, some believe, that a shift in the way we produce food may have some unintended consequences. They contend that poverty in nations such as Africa and Asia, is caused by the low productivity of the unindustrialized farm labor. The U.S. Agriculture Department projects, without reform, there will be over a thirty percent increase in the numbers of the ‘food insecure’ people in those nations over the next decade (Paarlberg 179).

In fact, it is also necessary for governmental bodies to become involved in promoting localized food such as policies and labelling laws that encourage healthier eating and food re-localization. In addition, regulations to foster sustainable food production are essential. Moreover, in the movie Cuban, the Accidental Revolution, David Suzuki, introduces how the government’s vision becomes one with the farmers, that there is a possibility for the industrial food system to work together. For example, Cuban agronomists describe the benefits of crop rotation for soil health, while Cuban farmers express pleasure with the relative productivity and profitability of their ecological and somehow newly industrialized farming systems. By inventing a new way to create food and working with nature, profit is gained and diversity is generated leading the country to possess the largest national program in sustainable agriculture. With the government’s assistance, farmers learn to do more with less and growing food as a community becomes more a passion that profits. In his article, Wes Jackson also supports the idea of finding a new way to create food without technology and science. Instead of focusing mainly on the local food systems, he emphasizes that by using all the knowledge acquired from the pioneers and their cleverness, we can build domestic prairies that have high-yielding fields that are planted only once every twenty years. It is not the entire answer to the total agriculture problems, but breeding new crops from native plants selected from nature’s abundance and simulating the resettlement botanical complexity of a region should make it easier to solve many agricultural problems (40). The share to work side by side with nature may be one of the solution to establish a new sea of perennial prairie

When it comes to politics and power, countries tend to side with whatever is at their best interest. As long as someone is scratching their backs and their pockets are filled, politicians turn a blind eye to unjust rulings. For years now, America has gone above and beyond to try to bring Cuba down and in the process Fidel Castro. The American government’s determination over the years to hinder the growth of Cuba’s economy is ever so apparent. However Mugabe has been deteriorating Zimbabwe’s resources for three decades now and the American government or any other powerful country have yet to step up and put an end to his autocracy.

The core focus of University Colloquium is to explore and practice communicating about the environmental concepts of sustainability, ecological literacy, environmental education, and sense of place. Both exploration and communication of these core concepts was amply carried by participation in this event. Tabling consists of 2 parts: communicating to students about environmental concepts pertaining to farmer’s markets, and researching what to communicate at home. Therefore, through research, I explored the concepts of colloquium because I had to mention research to curious students. Regarding sustainability, facts mentioned focused on how local farmer’s markets tended to act in a greener and more environmentally sustainable way. For example, small farms more often readily adopt environmentally friendly practices including: rebuilding the diversity of crops and insects, using fewer pesticides, using cover crops to improve soil, and providing wildlife with safer border areas (Cho,2012). Ecological literacy and environmental education involved understanding the earths complex web of ecological

As I stepped off the gargantuan, snow white cruise ship, I gazed at a colorful sea of retro-style cars zipping through the narrow streets littered with potholes. The day I had been anticipating and fearing was finally here. I was in Cuba. The customs office at the end of the ship terminal was institutional looking, with stark white walls and bright lighting. Eventually, my family left customs and officially entered Cuba. Before meeting our tour guide, we located a restroom. Outside, there was a rugged and dirty looking man selling toilet paper to American tourists, who forgot their own roll. However, the cruise line had forewarned us, so we bypassed him.

Cuba is an island nation that was adopted in 1902. One third of it consists of mountains and rolling hills. It lies in the West Indies, and is said to be a beautiful island. Havana is Cuba’s capital, and the center of government for Cuba. Some important cities are Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. Santiago de Cuba is near the south-eastern area of Cuba, and has a population of about half a million people. It’s considered the second most important city in Cuba, probably because it’s an important sea port. Camagüey is the fourth largest city in Cuba, according to Wikipedia. The symbol of Camagüey is a clay pot, mainly because there are clay pots everywhere. They can be very small, or very big. They’re used to capture rainwater to be

Additionally, on a socio-cultural level, many consumers feel that restaurants partaking in green initiatives and operations are doing their part to not only help sustain the earth but also to conserving natural resources (Hu, Parsa & Self, 2010). “Going green” is not simply a trend in the food service industry but around the world and in all forms of business. Corporate companies consider “going green” as a sensible business strategy in building recognition for corporate social responsibility among consumers concerned with environmental conservation efforts. Lastly, technological initiatives such as Energy Star appliances (dishwashers, refrigerators, ice machines, etc.) and faucets that use less water must also be analyzed in their ecological conservation capability and weighed against their financial costs (University of Notre Dame, 2014).

On your weekly trip to the supermarket it’s easy to find a number of products, from coffee to dishwashing soap, that flaunt their green attributes” (American Psychological Association, 2010). With such rumors of greenwashing, consumers are more confused than ever. However, some consumers know the tricks and are coming to find that there are companies whose marketing practices are legit, not exaggerated or deceiving. APA also found that, “people are willing to spend more of their hard-earned green on green products, according to a 2008 survey of 9,000 adults performed by the global business firm Boston Consulting Group” (American Psychological Association, 2010). Consumers who are willing to pay more for a product or service are assuming that they are purchasing a healthier, safer, and better quality product or service for the environment.

What seems to be the trend in today’s market and what some are already practicing is the “green” life style. There is a need to create a product that can adhere to this lifestyle in a way that helps the planet, can be done safely and in style, with effortless routine, while clearly stating that you are contributing to the “green” way of life. Environmentalism, which is associated with the color green, is a broad philosophy and social movement which is centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment (Wikipedia, 2009). This movement is

Agriculture in the United States has changed dramatically over the centuries. Since the 1960’s large commercial farms have been leading in sales. As a direct result of their success we, as a society, have access to affordable food. However, the success of large farms has lead to many negative impacts such as increased usage of resources and decreased diversity in crop fields. This begs the question, what can be done to reduce the negative impacts of large farms. One solution growing in popularity is sustainable agriculture. The idea of sustainable agriculture is to create farms that need little to no outside help from irrigation, pesticides, or fertilizers. Sustainability can be achieved in many way through

The concept of sustainable development has become a major topic among intellectuals from various fields. Sustainable development has gone through various changes in its definitions and at present does not have a commonly accepted definition. The origination of the concept of sustainable development is debatable. In 1974 at a conference on Science and Technology for Human Development by the World Council of Churches the concept of a “sustainable society” is believed to have been first noted. This early concept focused on equitable distribution of scarce resources and the need for democratic decision making. In 1980 the currently used term of sustainable development emerged in the