Cuba Hosts International Forum on Organic Agriculture

Experts from 22 countries will attend the 9th International Meeting on Organic and Sustainable Agriculture, which will be held here from May 21 to 24.

Over 300 specialists are expected to participate, 110 of them foreigners, told Prensa Latina the president of the Cuban Association of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians (ACTAF), Idalmis Namco.

Sustainable Agrigulture: Community Gardens a Way of the Future

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Community gardens not only provide sustainable living and food security, they also create a much needed sense of belonging, a Murdoch University student found out on her recent trip to Cuba and North America.
Sustainable Development and Planning student, Christina Snowdon, spent three months in Cuba and North America researching state-run and community gardens. She spoke to groups in Havana, Los Angeles, Berkley, Oakland, Portland and Seattle.

Christina said Australia could draw heavily from the gardens in North America and Cuba.

“Community gardens can provide a sense of place in the public realm in a progressively privatised world. They provide a forum for people to engage with each other in an informal, relaxed way,” Christina said.

She said while many gardens were locked and for private use throughout the US, she was impressed with Seattle, which has an extensive community gardening program that encourages involvement from everybody in the city.