After the Soviet Bloc fell in 1990, Cuba dived into a severe economic depression as they lost 80% of their import capacity. Commodities such as petroleum, fertilizer, and pesticide became unavailable, a situation compounded by the continuing embargo from the United States. In order to regain control over their food supply, Cuba had to de-industrialize its agriculture and rely on more ecological, cheap, local modes of production (cutting out need for mega tractors, chemical pesticides or fertilizers). In short, Cuba is today a real-life experiment proving that organic agriculture can work on a large scale to adequately feed a population while being ecologically sustainable.

I went to study this phenomena in 2004, and along the way produced an extensive photo series on Cuban culture in Havana and Pinar del Río, visiting many farms, cooperatives, museums, homes, and other organizations in order to learn more about Cuba and its people. For example, there is no doubt a tension to be felt in Havana - a crumbling city that feels like you just walked into the 1950s - as human rights groups have pointed out that there are still many political prisoners that are denied free speech and are wallowing in Cuba’s prisons. Cubans themselves stand on the fence, speaking two minds pending on who is listening, about what they think of the country’s situation. I can’t pretend to capture the complexity of Cuba’s state of affairs in this paragraph or photo essay, but I have tried to open the door a little.

Documentary Photographs by Isabelle Carbonell