Comments on: Should We Try to be Like Cuba?

By: diet

diet — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:44:46 +0000

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By: Let a thousand Havanas bloom « Upturned Earth || John Schwenkler

Let a thousand Havanas bloom « Upturned Earth || John Schwenkler — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:36:44 +0000

[...] the deindustrialized, urban farming that took root in Cuba after the fall of the Soviet Union, he writes: Heavens to Mao no! No, no [...]

By: Roxanne Christensen

Roxanne Christensen — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:01:38 +0000

I agree that Cuba is a model for indentured farming, not progressive farming. But that does not negate the case for commercial urban farming in developed countries. It is already happening in the U.S. and Canada. As the co-author of SPIN-Farming, what I see every day are more and more entrepreneurs using SPIN’s franchise-ready farming system as an entry point into the farming profession. They are using front lawns and backyards and neighborhood lots as their land base. Perhaps most importantly, this is happening without significant policy changes or government supports. This is not subsistence farming. This is recasting farming as a small business in cities and towns and integrating it into the built environment in an economically viable manner. It is “right sizing” agriculture for an urbanized century and making local food production a viable business proposition once again.