Frei Betto Urges Cubans to Grow Food Even on Windowsills

Brazilian theologian Frei Betto made another appearance on the Cuban TV program Mesa Redonda to impart his "wisdom" on how Cubans can turn necessity into virtue. A friend and admirer of dictator Fidel Castro, Betto appeared on the official program as an advisor to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and as an expert in "food sovereignty."

The mere announcement of his presence on this controversial program sparked a flurry of comments on social media, with many indignant Cubans wondering what Betto's latest suggestion would be. Remembering his previous appearance, where the Brazilian theologian offered culinary tips like frying potato peels—claiming they are excellent "for snacking"—Cubans mocked his advice once again.

“Potato peels, for example, are excellent for snacking with a drink. Fried, they are excellent,” said Betto in March 2022. Two years and three months later, with food insecurity rising in Cuba, Betto returned to the set to encourage Cubans to “plant, even if it's just some plants that allow you to make a sauce on the windowsill.”

“The results will come. We are already on this path. It is very important that people, especially those with the means or with a space at home, or an empty area nearby, or in the countryside, to cultivate, plant… even if it’s just some plants for making a sauce on the windowsill,” he stated.

Nostalgic for the leadership of the dictator he wrote about in his book Fidel and Religion, the priest recalled the "initiatives" developed during the so-called "special period." “There wasn’t an empty space in Havana. All vacant lots were turned into gardens where root vegetables and greens were planted and cultivated. We need to mobilize like that again. The CDR, for example, can spearhead this, and many already are. It’s very important,” the FAO advisor emphasized.

As he approaches 80 years old, Frei Betto shares "knowledge" that Cubans have heard for years in the regime's propaganda, with prominent figures like ex-spy Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, who has a doctorate in the art of "Cultivate Your Piece" and growing fruit trees in pots.

Four years ago, in June 2020, Hernández Nordelo called on people to grow food in any available space and “make the most of every piece of land,” amid the severe food, health, and economic crisis facing the island. To this end, the Cuban government distributed a manual to the population with guidelines for producing their own food in any cultivable space they could access, aiming for people to contribute not only to their own consumption but also to that of others.

“The contribution of all Cubans is essential for us to continue with what we have been doing so far,” assured Hernández Nordelo.

The bulletin “From Your Neighborhood, Cultivate Your Piece” was a document urging the Cuban population to produce food from home. It presented the concepts and principles of "family farming" and "food sovereignty."

A year after this initiative, in March 2021, the regime’s Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz called for “knocking on the doors” of Cubans with yards to plant them. “The people don’t eat plans,” declared the overweight leader.

However, the food deficit in the Cuban diet persists, and agricultural production has not taken off, neither in "little pieces" nor in large-scale cultivation. Perhaps for this reason, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel recently decided to change the regime’s propaganda slogans and urged Cubans to "hustle" for food and not wait for basic rationed goods.

“We need to reach the point where this country can self-supply its food... But you have to believe in it. And each municipality has to hustle for its food! And not rely on what’s in the ration basket,” he said.

Content with the "resilience" demonstrated by the Cuban people, the Brazilian theologian may take this latest concept of "creative resistance" from Dr. Díaz-Canel to FAO headquarters: the "hustle," an attitude towards life that the Cuban dictatorship aims to turn into a food doctrine.