I just saw a fascinating episode of "The Nature of Things" which showed how Cuba responded to SIMULTANEOUS food and energy crises. For our American members/guests, "The Nature of Things" is a long-running science show hosted by Dr. David Suzuki - a brilliant man, and a visionary in many respects.

The documentary pointed out how modern agriculture has become an EXTREMELY petroluem-intensive industry. Petroleum to produce the fertilizers and pesticides. Petroluem to plow and harvest the fields. Finally, petroleum to transport all the goods from farms to urban centers.

The program showed how Cuba has DRAMATICALLY increased total food production, and equally importantly, managed to equal YIELDS from high-tech, high-energy, high-chemical agriculture with virtually NO use of petroleum.

Part of this food-revolution involved urban farms. Havana now has THOUSANDS of such urban farms/gardens all over the city. It is one of the few for-profit industries allowed in Cuba - meaning that these urban farmers are among the most prosperous of Cuban citizens.

Everything is not only organic, but truly SYMBIOTIC with the environment. Pests and diseases are controlled through a combination of bug-eating-bugs, bug-repelling-plants, and plant-extracts.

Yields for livestock are increased NOT through using (and important) the same dubious/dangerous forms of feed which created Mad Cows' Disease, but INSTEAD they simply grow high-protein PLANTS for the cattle to eat.

Pastures have been turned into feeding "courses" (through the use of fencing), which leads the animals steadily along the same "path" through the pasture land - never allowing them to remain too long in one place - thus grazing vegetation is never depleted.

It is the sort of low-tech, high-INTELLIGENCE approach to problems which is essentially non-existent in Western societies.

Now Cuba is EXPORTING its "agronomists" to other Latin American countries (many having the same energy/poverty issues to deal with), and other Third World nations.

For those unaware of it, Cuba has one of the world's best educational systems, despite the general poverty - and Cuban doctors, engineers, and other professionals trek all over the world in government-sponsored programs to share Cuba's home-grown expertise all over the world.

Such "international service" has become a way of life with the Cuban people.

Sorry I can't provide a link for this program, but I highly recommend it to people if you have a chance to see a re-broadcast.

Detroit needs to learn from Havana!!