Translator: Sebastian Betti Reviewer: Denise RQ
As you see, the title of my talk is rather suggestive.
I will be discussing concepts rather than positions, though.
This topic is the yin-yang of today's world,
with organic farming running against conventional farming.
According to the Kama Sutra:
"if you want to have healthy sex, eat healthy food;
if you want to have bad sex, eat bad food."
We are both social and sexual beings.
We have to keep that in mind. That's the point.
I'd like to make a small introduction to set you into context.
By 1800, there were 3 billion inhabitants on Earth.
When I was born, there were 2.5 billion;
and there are 7 billion today.
A gentleman named Malthus concluded
that population growth was exponential
while food growth was mathematical.
He never heard of biofuels. He never did.
He didn't know about soil degradation
and poisoning due to use of chemicals
I will not overwhelm you talking about extreme positions
and apocalyptic issues.
The world is changing and we don't know how it will end,
but we should get ready as individuals.
Organic food will prevail in the future.
Much is talked about diabetes, high-blood pressure, obesity,
and cardiovascular problems;
the causes of which are not stress, but the consumption of certain foods.
A person suffering from diabetes, high-blood pressure or obesity
cannot have a balanced state of mind.
That person would be constantly stressed.
In Havana, this person can buy
an organic lettuce for 5 Cuban pesos,
while in London, Toronto, or New York, it would cost 10 dollars,
if it's available on the market.
Today we can speak of hunger in the First World.
The first ones to become aware
of the damage caused by industrial agriculture,
toxic farming,
input-intensive farming,
were the people in the First World.
They are very concerned
over the fact that diseases are being compounded by other problems.
Life expectancy is high, but quality of life is low.
People are realizing that there is a food problem,
including red meat consumption that increases uric acid levels.
We are going to live about 90 years.
(Laughter)
That is a privilege.
The opportunity to buy organic food in other countries
is only available to an elite; it is a class issue.
There are people bringing products from New Zealand to New York,
from Colombia to Houston.
But who can buy them?
Only affluent people, the haves; the have-nots cannot.
Cuba is the only country in the world that has a social program in place
for the development of organic products.
Perspicacity at its best?
No! There were no fertilizers and pesticides available.
The country was somehow forced to develop organic farming.
Nowadays, the Cuban school of organic farming is
one of the best in the world.
In fact, I'm representing it here.
I have been producing organic food for 18 years,
and I have earned social recognition
The only disadvantage to it is that it is not cost-effective.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
The idea shouldn't be to start an organic-food revolution.
We are speaking of individual priorities.
It would be utopian: "Let's consume fertilizer-free products only!"
We have to consider what is being done
to overcome the problem in different ways and through different means,
including family and individual farming.
Certification processes aren't being implemented in Cuba.
There are some ideas, however, about participatory certification
and ways of letting people know
whether or not they're eating quality food.
People who consume organic products are less likely to get ill.
Another important thing is social responsibility.
Cigarette packs usually indicate
that smoking can cause lung cancer,
dizziness, and so forth.
It's social responsibility to provide smokers with this information.
On a different note, people who sell croquettes
never tell buyers how many times they have used the same oil.
How many croquettes can they fry before the oil turns into saturated fat?
Saturated fat is cancer-inducing.
There is social responsibility involved.
We won't ask them to label croquettes,
but there are a number of products that should always include facts
about sugar and saturated-fat contents and their effects.
When high-performance athletes take drugs, they are thrown out.
When we consume toxic products, nobody finds out.
(Laughter)
Because we're not informed. It is an individual problem.
And we can't justify it
invoking food shortage
because life expectancy in Cuba continues to grow, however.
In today's world, junk food is in trend
because it's tasty, but it is really bad.
But there's not only junk food, but also transgenic food, soya and wheat.
We should take better care of us,
our families, and society.
In my opinion, Cuba has made a special effort in organic farming,
building upon people's high level of education:
they are in a position to endorse organic farming.
Organic farming does not merely provide an alternative but a possibility.
It has to be truly organic.
We have to get rid of chemicals-based farming,
not all of a sudden, but in a gradual manner.
We have to know what we are eating, what our families are eating.
This way, we can live longer
and our sexual life can be healthier.
And to quote the Kama Sutra, "A healthy body, a healthy life."
Thank you very much.
(Applause)