Jeff’s program will explore the streets, parks, and gardens of Havana. It includes a visit to UBPC Organopónico Vivero Alamar, an urban, organic farming cooperative just outside of Havana, and the Jardín Botánico Nacional de Cuba (National Botanical Garden of Cuba).

The 26-acre Organopónico Vivero Alamar provides employment for dozens of workers, while producing vegetables and medicinal plants for the community. Following the collapse of the Soviet bloc in the early 1990s, Cuba was no longer able to access machinery and agricultural chemicals from its former allies. In this difficult environment, the government relaxed economic rules and allowed the formation of cooperatives. What began as necessity – farming without pesticides and chemical fertilizers – is now a source of pride to members.

The Jardín Botánico Nacional de Cuba, was founded in 1967 and opened to the public in 1984. It covers nearly 1,500 acres and features close to 150,000 examples of 4,000 different species. There are greenhouses of succulents and tropical plants, an extensive palm collection, and numerous plantings of native and non-native species.