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Cuba: An Accidental Revolution |
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Apr 30 (Wed) 7:00pm, SLO Library, $5-$10
The Accidental Revolution comprises two 45-minute documentaries examining Cuba’s success in providing for itself in the face of a massive economic crisis, and how its latest revolutions -- an agricultural revolution and a revolution in science and medicine -- are having repercussions around the world. Narrated by David Suzuki.
Cuba:The Accidental Revolution (Part 1), examines Cuba’s response to the food crisis created by the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989. Almost overnight it threw Cuba’s whole economic system into crisis. Without fertilizer and pesticides, Cubans turned to organic methods. Without fuel and machinery parts, Cubans turned to oxen. Without fuel to transport food, Cubans started to grow food in the cities where it is consumed. Urban gardens were established in vacant lots, school playgrounds, patios and back yards. As a result Cuba created the largest program in sustainable agriculture ever undertaken. By 1999 Cuba’s agricultural production had recovered and in some cases reached historic levels.
In Part 2 Cuba lost the foreign exchange needed to pay for expensive drugs and medicines. As a result, much of Cuba’s medicine today is based on medicinal plants. These are grown on farms, processed in small labs and made available to patients through an extensive network of medical clinics. Today Cuba’s advances in alternative medicine could have important consequences for other countries around the world. Today Cuba has the highest quality of life in the region, the highest life expectancy, and one of the highest literacy rates in all of Latin America.
“Anyone interested in ecologically sustainable development...will find this documentary thought provoking.” Gregory Biniowsky, Canadian Development and the Environment Consultant living in Cuba
www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/cubas.html
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