For Jamesport resident Linda Slezak, co-owner of the Red Barn B&B, a recent trip to the Caribbean was more than just a vacation spent lounging on a beach in some touristy remote locale.

Instead, Slezak, leader of the non-profit food group Slow Food East End, embarked upon a journey of exploration and discovery to Cuba in late May that opened her eyes to an agricultural revolution the United States might do well to emulate, she said.

“In Cuba, they have been able to do what they have done, which is to bring a country from starvation to sustainability, because of the political will – because the country, and the powers that be, are behind it,” she said.

Cuba, noted for agrarian reforms in the 1950s, has long been a major exporter of crops including tobacco, coffee and sugar but, for years, was forced to import wheat and other crops to feed its people.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba lost its major trade partner. And, with an embargo put in place by the United States after the Cuban missile crisis, Cuba was unable to purchase pesticides, chemicals, fertilizer or farm machinery - leading to the collapse of its traditional agricultural system.

The country went through a crisis period, dubbed “The Special Period" by historians. With hunger and starvation rampant, there was a need to find a solution – the reliance upon local food, grown organically, was born.

“They had to do a complete 360 degree turnaround,” Slezak said.

Today, approximately 60 percent of the population is involved in agriculture on the island nation of 11.2 million, compared to 20 percent in the early 1990s.

The agrarian revolution Slezak saw firsthand on her trip has resulted in a nation where farmers use oxen to plow fields, and where a single tractor might be shared by an entire community in a cooperative fashion. 

Similarly socialist principles are embraced in a country where the focus is on free education, she said; capitalism is eschewed. But despite misconceptions, Slezak stressed communism didn't appear to be prevalent in Cuba.

“I didn’t see any kind of suppression of information,” she said.

The tour, organized under the auspices of Global Exchange, allowed professionals and students to study in Cuba; unless an individual is traveling for education, study, or other specified purposes, it is illegal for an American to enter the country.

However, restrictions on travel will soon loosen and more Americans may be able to enter the country, so long as the tourists spend time learning about Cuban culture and conversing with local Cubans in "people-to-people" programs designed to bring ordinary people together.

“We do socially responsible tourism,” Carol Steele, Cuba coordinator at Global Exchange, said.

For foodies afforded access, the nation is a "paradise" of bountiful fruit trees and a model of sustainability, Slezak said.

The organic movement is flourishing in Cuba, Steele added. “Cuba has been green and sustainable for quite some time.”

On the tour, Slezak witnessed sustainable agricultural practices such as raised beds, to keep fertilizer from washing away, and black netting to protect crops. Lack of fuel has forced residents to farm locally, though some crops, such as rice, are still imported.

Resourcefulness and adaptability assure “nobody is starving,” in Cuba, Slezak said. Sustainability is aimed at “feeding a population in an impoverished country."

Jerusha Klemperer, a New York City foodie who also took the tour, said, "Here in the States we have a vibrant sustainable agriculture practice and community, but it exists in spite of governmental support [propping up] the industrial food system. In Cuba, it seems that sustainable agriculture is encouraged and promoted through government programs as a necessary and important part of how the country will feed itself."

Editor's Note: Linda Slezak is a contributor for Riverhead Patch.