[Lapg] Permaculture Tour of Cuba this February 2011

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

Please pass this on to folks who maybe interested.


A TOUR FOR GREEN, SUSTAINABLE AND PERMACULTURE ACTIVISTS

Cuba : Sustainable Agriculture and Urban Gardens
SPONSORED BY GLOBAL EXCHANGE
WITH CAMERON KELLY (Hancock Permaculture Center graduate).

February 11, 2011 - February 20, 2011

"Cuba is involved in the most comprehensive conversion from chemical 
to organic agriculture that any nation has yet attempted." -- 
Institute for Food and Development Policy.

We invite you to participate on a Global Exchange research delegation 
to study Sustainable Agriculture and Urban Gardens in Cuba.

In the early 1990's Cuba began to practice organic agriculture on a 
nationwide scale, with some very exciting results. Permaculture 
experts from around the world were invited to come to Havana and 
train eager Cubans in permaculture principles and practices. The 
whole of Cuba was a permaculture experiment in action. There are 
currently tens of thousands of organic gardens in Havana alone and 
over a million across the country. In the late 1990's, the Cuban 
Association for Organic Agriculture was granted the International 
Right Livelihood Award (the Alternative Nobel Prize) for its efforts.

Organic agriculture continues to be supported and expanded at 
government and grassroots levels. Havana now grows over half its 
fresh food organically, and locally. According to the World Wildlife 
Fund Cuba is the only nation in the world that is truly sustainable.

GLOBAL EXCHANGE: THE CUBAN TOUR COMPANY WITH EXPERIENCE
Global Exchange and Food First co-organized the first U.S. delegation 
to Cuba focused on sustainable agriculture in 1993, then co-authored 
the seminal book on the subject, The Greening of Cuba and 
collaborated on an award winning video of the same title. Global 
Exchange organizes regular delegations of professors and 
practitioners of organic agriculture to Cuba, who have developed 
exchange programs through their universities and communities. These 
relationships are now proliferating, with scientists and farmers 
expanding their own joint projects between the U.S. and Cuba. It is 
only the U.S. embargo that interferes with the full development of 
these joint projects.

Program Highlights:
Meet Cuban permaculture teachers
City Tour of urban gardens and farmer's markets
Visit Medicinal Herb Farm
Dairy and vegetable production farm
Meet Local farmers
Visit the "17 de Mayo" farm cooperative
Tour a Vermiculture compost center
See Cubasolar, Cuba's "Energy Revolution"
Learn to dance salsa and enjoy Cuban music
Tour Havana Vieja(Old Havana)
Stroll the famous Malecon on Havana harbor
Meet Buena Vista Social Club musicians

Cost: $2,575
Price Includes: Roundtrip flight from Cancun/Havana/Cancun, three 
star hotel accommodations, breakfast daily, translation, 
transportation, and program fees. Price is based on double room 
accommodations; add $300 for single room. Does NOT include airfare 
to/from Cancun, beverages, gratuities, travel insurance, personal 
expenditures, etc.

How to Register:

Please register directly with
www.globalexchange.org
Contact Drea at Global Exchange
(drea at globalexchange.org) with any questions about this trip, or call 
toll-free 1-800-497-1994 ext. 242.

Andrew Leslie Phillips
917-771-9382
http://www.hancockpermaculture.org
http://www.permaculturedesignsolutions.com
http://www.stoneandgarden.net
Permaculture encourages:
"Care of Earth. Care of people. Return of surplus to both."

"It is time to sit down and be still,
for you are very drunk,
and we are at the edge of the roof."
--Rumi

and...

"Follow your bliss and don't be afraid;
doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."
---Joseph Campbell