{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Living on ration card isn\u0026#39;t easy, but Cubans use ingenuity to feed families' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c180d8eafeecae152aed' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c180d8eafeecae152aed' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nLiving on ration card isn\u0026#39;t easy, but Cubans use ingenuity to feed families\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003e1. Morro Castle in background with boats in Havana Harbour in the foreground2. Street scene with pedestrians and traffic 3. Set up of AP Bureau Chief in Havana, Anita Snow entering her dining room with bag of groceries 4. Mid of Snow...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003e1. Morro Castle in background with boats in Havana Harbour in the foreground\u003cbr/\u003e2. Street scene with pedestrians and traffic \u003cbr/\u003e3. Set up of AP Bureau Chief in Havana, Anita Snow entering her dining room with bag of groceries \u003cbr/\u003e4. Mid of Snow removing the groceries from her bag\u003cbr/\u003e5. SOUNDBITE (English) Anita Snow, AP Bureau Chief in Havana:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Well, I've just finished my last trip to the market this month on my Cuban food plan. I'm going to show you what I bought. This is a Yuca; it's a root crop and it's really delicious if you steam it with garlic and onions and oil. We have a big giant...wow a big Papaya. I love papaya, it's delicious. Then I bought a Boniato; this is a Cuban sweet potato. Sometimes they're white, this one's more red. You can cook these like any other potato; you can mash them, fry them.\"\u003cbr/\u003e6. Mid of groceries \u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (English) Anita Snow, AP Bureau Chief in Havana:\u003cbr/\u003e\"So, anyhow, this has been a really interesting experience, this last month trying to stay on a food plan similar to an average Cuban's. It's been really hard. It's been really interesting. It's been nice seeing how kind Cubans are sharing their food. They've given me recipes; they've shown me how to cook different things like the Yuca and the Boniato. I've just learned a lot about how Cubans live.\"\u003cbr/\u003e7. Mid of Snow walking into a market\u003cbr/\u003e8. Snow paying vendor\u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE (English) Anita Snow, AP Bureau Chief in Havana:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I've discovered that these foods for Cubans are really kind of expensive, but they buy what they can with their small amount of pesos and they feed their families. There's nobody here dieing of hunger, but it's hard. It's hard to make ends meet. The Cuban government is in the process of looking at ways to increase food production and bring prices down. Cubans are very hopeful that perhaps some of these problems will be resolved eventually.\"\u003cbr/\u003e10. Wide of Old Capitol building and traffic\u003cbr/\u003e11. Mid of classic car and horse and carriage on Havana street\u003cbr/\u003eCubans living on the food ration have to use ingenuity and organisation skills to ensure everyone gets enough to eat, says AP reporter Anita Snow, who lived on a similar programme for 30 days to see how residents of the communist-run island managed to get by.\u003cbr/\u003eNo one on the island dies from starvation, but it's not easy, Cubans say.  \u003cbr/\u003eSnow allotted herself the same items on the ration, plus an average salary of 350 pesos (16.60 US Dollars) to buy the rest of the food. \u003cbr/\u003eDuring June, she  ate little animal protein, no dairy products, very little fat, but consumed a lot of  rice and beans. When she could she ate fruits and vegetables daily.\u003cbr/\u003eBy June 30, Snow had dropped nine pounds (four kilograms).\u003cbr/\u003eCuba's universal ration programme  began in March 1962 to guarantee a low-priced basket of basic foods just as the US cut off trade with the island, sparking food shortages.  \u003cbr/\u003eInitially labelled as temporary, the programme remained in place as Cuba struggled to feed its people, turning to the Eastern Bloc in the 1970s and '80s for most of its food.\u003cbr/\u003eToday, Cuba spends 1 billion US dollars  annually to give the island's 11.2 million citizens a basic food basket, including rice, vegetables, potatoes, bread, eggs and a small amount of meat products. \u003cbr/\u003eThe government estimates the ration provides a third of the 3,300 calories each Cuban consumes daily.\u003cbr/\u003eThe rationed products, which cost consumers about 1.20 US dollars would cost more than 58 US dollars if purchased at the overpriced Cuban supermarkets for foreigners known as the \"shopping,\" or about 50 US dollars at the average US grocery store.\u003cbr/\u003eCubans told Snow that the farmers markets were expensive, but she didn't realise just how costly until she lived on their limited plan. \u003cbr/\u003eA big papaya or two extra pounds of dried beans costs about 18 pesos (68 cents), more than a full day's pay.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I've discovered that these foods for Cubans are really kind of expensive, but they buy what they can with their small amount of pesos and they feed their families. There's nobody here dieing of hunger, but it's hard. It's hard to make ends meet,\" she said.\u003cbr/\u003eThe UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean says more than half of Cubans now have access to foreign currency, including tourism workers who get tips, government workers who get production bonuses, and people receiving remittances from abroad. \u003cbr/\u003eWith 50 US dollars extra a month, a family can buy additional cooking oil, pork, or even a rare piece of beef at the \"shopping.\"\u003cbr/\u003eBut the rest of Cubans must, as they say, resolve their food problems in creative ways. \u003cbr/\u003eNeighbours trade and buy and sell rationed products among themselves to get items they need. \u003cbr/\u003eThey buy country-made milk, butter, and yogurt sold surreptitiously outside the government bakery. \u003cbr/\u003eSome engage in petty theft, such as restaurant workers who skim cheese off sandwiches to take some home or to sell.\u003cbr/\u003eIt is not uncommon for Cubans  to barter. \u003cbr/\u003eA pound of squid can be traded for 6 eggs. \u003cbr/\u003eWhen Snow ran out of coffee she bought it from people willing to sell their ration to get money for other kinds of food.\u003cbr/\u003eThe AP reporter learned firsthand how Cuba's tightly woven society ensures that relatives, neighbours, friends, and co-workers always eat. \u003cbr/\u003eSeveral Cubans gave her part of their rations, refusing pay or food in exchange, she said.\u003cbr/\u003e\"It's been really hard. It's been really interesting. It's been nice seeing how kind Cubans are sharing their food. They've given me recipes; they've shown me how to cook different things like the Yuca and the Boniato. I've just learned a lot about how Cubans live,\" she said.\u003cbr/\u003eA Cuban colleague one day graciously offered to share her spaghetti lunch from home.  \u003cbr/\u003eAnother friend told of his family inviting the same elderly neighbour to lunch everyday for years.\u003cbr/\u003eDespite their generosity, Cubans remain anxious about food, especially those who remember the \"Special Period\" - wartime-like austerity measures imposed in the early 1990s after the Soviet Union collapsed and the island's gross domestic product plunged by 35 percent. \u003cbr/\u003eCubans experienced true hunger during those years, missing many meals, eating very small and unappetising ones, going months without meat or fresh produce.\u003cbr/\u003eBut the ration ensured no one died from starvation and everyone counted on something everyday - if just a bread roll.\u003cbr/\u003eThe crisis eased after the government restructured its centralised food system in 1993, breaking up state farms into smaller cooperatives owned and managed by workers. \u003cbr/\u003eSmaller parcels went to individual farmers. \u003cbr/\u003eA year later, the government opened farmers markets where cooperatives and small farmers could sell crops at unrestricted prices after meeting government production quotas. \u003cbr/\u003eCubans also complement their rations with monthly produce fairs, and cheap meals at workplaces and schools, and affordable street food from a growing number of government and private stands.\u003cbr/\u003e\"The Cuban government is in the process of looking at ways to increase food production and bring prices down. Cubans are very hopeful that perhaps some of these problems will be resolved eventually,\" Snow said.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan class=\"star-rating\" aria-label=\"3.5 out of 5 stars\" role=\"img\"\u003e\u003ci class=\"fa-solid 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