Havana/Several entrepreneurial women overcome obstacles related to the poor production and high prices of food in Cuba and propose, through small businesses, to satisfy the needs of healthier diets and better nutrition for different groups. The regular practice of physical exercises and the impossibility of finding appetizers or small snacks with natural products in stores led Camila Martel and Zulema Mesa to create Zuca Saludable, a venture born in Havana, at the end of March.
“We make granolas, muffins, energy and protein bars, as well as lentil bread, without preservatives, colorings or added sugars, all with 100% natural products,” Martel told IPS.
These characteristics “favor an inclusive diet, with consumption opportunities for people with diabetes and celiac disease,” although “our main customers are athletes and sports fans.” fitness (practice of resistance, flexibility and strength exercises, in order to maintain good physical shape),” indicated this 35-year-old violinist.
In Martel’s opinion, following a healthy diet in Cuba today “is complex”
In Martel’s opinion, following a healthy diet in Cuba today “is complex”, as it is an issue where variables such as prices, access to a varied diet and nutritional culture, among others, are combined.
He agreed that, although there are price differences between healthy and unhealthy foods in the world, in the case of the Island “access to food is in itself expensive.” He considered it important to “inform yourself about the nutritional contribution of foods, how they help our health and to procure or prepare them in the healthiest way possible.”
Although scarcity often means “eating what you find,” Martel appreciates that in this context some “people are looking for ways to eat healthier.” “It is necessary to give opportunities to these products, raise awareness among the population about the benefits. Good nutrition helps the stability of the body and mind. Highly processed foods are poisonous. It is a cumulative process, it is seen over the years when physical resistance decreases or patients become ill, with no possibility of reversing the damage,” she said.
In recent years, autonomous initiatives have emerged on the Island that propose healthy foods, encourage the consumption of people with various health conditions and encourage new dietary habits. Such efforts encounter innumerable challenges in a country with poor agricultural production that maintains high prices and forces the import of around 80% of food for domestic consumption.
Numerous problems weigh on the agricultural sector that prevent greater production, such as industrial decapitalization and technological obsolescence; shortage of fuel, fertilizers, herbicides and spare parts for machinery; low yields, poor soil management, as well as the effects of pests and variables associated with climate change.
Every year, significant percentages of crops are lost in Cuban fields, especially fruits and vegetables, due to lack of boxes, transportation and the deficient refrigeration chain. Dozens of government measures in the last three decades have proven insufficient to multiply agricultural production.
The Government has defined food production as a matter of national security and since October 2022 it approved the Law on Food Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security, which establishes the legal framework to achieve such goals. However, the agricultural sector received only 3.1% of investments in 2023 – slightly higher than the 2.6% of the previous year – compared to the 24.6% absorbed by business services, real estate and rental activities, which includes the construction of hotels, official data confirm.
The issue becomes more complicated taking into account inequalities in household access to sufficient, varied and quality food.
The issue becomes more complicated taking into account inequalities in household access to sufficient, varied and quality food. Through a ration card, the population has access each month to a certain amount of basic foods, which are insufficient from a nutritional point of view.
Guaranteeing this system requires a disbursement of 230 million dollars per month (more than 2.7 billion dollars annually), according to the most recent calculations. The Government insists that such expenditures are unsustainable given the liquidity problems of the economy. This form of distribution has been delayed for more than a year, due to the shortage of foreign currency and the increase in food prices on the international market.
For the rest of the monthly consumption of rice, meat, dairy products, as well as fruits, vegetables and tubers, you must go to state currency stores, agricultural product markets, private establishments, cooperatives, self-employed workers and the black market, with very high prices. . Other statistics reveal that in Cuban households more than 70% of expenses are dedicated to purchasing food.
“Even with all the problems, it is possible in today’s Cuba to eat healthily. It depends, in part, on transforming habits and using products that we have on hand, knowing how to combine them,” said Greisy de la Caridad González, manager of the Delicias Bebe venture, promoter of healthy eating from early childhood.
This 33-year-old physiotherapist, who lives in the Cuban capital, told IPS that since her pregnancy she began studying nutrition, breastfeeding and complementary feeding from six months onwards, to improve her son’s diet. When the child turned one and a half years old, “I decided to open the business for mothers who needed it. There is almost no healthy baby food in stores, there is a lot of junk food. And, unfortunately, mothers and fathers are often governed more by the image of the product than by the ingredients,” said González.
/ IPS
Delicias Bebe mainly provides desserts that preserve greater durability outside of the cold. They are all made with oats, and almost all include natural peanut butter, with no additives, as well as honey instead of sugar. González is a defender of the consumption of natural fruits, tubers, salads and little sugar. “Many people associate healthy food with foods for diabetics or celiacs, and that is not the case, it is for everyone. I put honey instead of sugar in my sweets; you feel the sweetness, they are not tasteless,” she noted.
He regretted that cola soft drinks are given to young children to drink “because they are very harmful, due to the high sugar content and that they do not nourish.” Likewise, he warned that many times no attention is paid to the labels of packages of cookies, chips and other products with very striking and addictive packaging, with a lot of salt, preservatives and fats.
“Sweets are generally expensive, and yet they are given to infants, even babies, without paying attention to the quantities. It will always be advisable to prepare desserts at home, although it is more work. I didn’t have the art to cook either and I learned after becoming a mother, when I decided that my son would not have that diet,” she said.
Several studies show that a significant part of the Cuban population maintains habits of consuming processed and fried foods, which are also rich in sugars, saturated fats and salt. In addition, research from national institutions warns that overweight and obesity have increased in children, adolescents and adults in recent years.
Research correlates these indicators with the increase in different chronic non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus and certain types of cancer, among others. This is not a matter exclusive to Cuba. According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), rates of overweight and obesity in low- and middle-income countries are approaching the levels of higher-income countries.
An IFAD report, published in July 2023, noted that the consumption of sugary drinks is increasing in developing countries, and global sales of packaged foods increased from 67.7 kilograms per capita in 2005 to 76.9 kilograms in 2017. .
Packaged foods tend to be processed, which often means higher added sugars, saturated and trans fats, salt, and dietary energy density; which often involves a decrease in protein, dietary fiber and micronutrients, the text added.
