The Slow Cook has a provocative post on what the collapse of the Soviet Union did to Cuba: it improved the diet, according to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The Cuban economy had become highly dependent on the financial support as well as fuel, fertilizers and pesticides provided by the Soviet regime. When that ended in 1989, Cubans had to reinvent the way they feed themselves. Nationwide, Cubans consumed one-third fewer calories and most were forced to walk or bike to work. The average Cuban lost 20 pounds, and over a period of years the country reverted to an organic system of agriculture and planted every available green space for food crops.
During the decade-long period of adjustment, the prevalence of obesity in Cuban declined from 14 percent to 7 percent. Deaths from diabetes dropped 51 percent. Deaths from heart disease declined 35 percent. Overall, Cuba's death rate was reduced by 18 percent.
Sounds like the post-Peak Oil diet... One major casualty - the beloved Cubano sandwich.
- Samuel Fromartz
CBC's The Nature of Things ran a two-part documentary on this (the accidental revolution), focusing on agriculture in the post-Soviet era, rather than the nutrition/health aspect. Though it figures that the two are related.
One salient aspect (apart from the bike rides mentioned above) is the rise of urban farms: cultivating land closer to and in cities rather than relying on transportation. There is an URL for the show at http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/show_cuba.html
Posted by: Morten Hansen | October 15, 2007 at 01:45 PM