Before the Berlin Wall dropped, Cuba was thriving. The Soviet-bloc nations bought Cuba’s sugar cane and tobacco, plus they provided economic staples such as food and gasoline in exchange. When the Ussr collapsed overnight, and the wall dividing Europe came down, Cuba was suddenly stranded. With no patron, they’d no oil to run their economy. They’d prolonged blackouts since there wasn’t any fuel for power plants. They had no transportation. They’d no fuel for tractors on the factory farms. Whether or not the farms had still been running, they’d no market where they might sell their goods simply because they were under an international embargo.

The Cubans had hardly any food on the plates. The basis of their traditional economy was sugar cane and tobacco. Most of their staple foods had been imported from Soviet-bloc countries, and also the Cuban farmland was adopted to aid their money crops.

Overnight, these were an orphan nation faced with potential famine. So, was there a famine in Cuba? No. Why don’t you? They took quick and immediate action to develop a sustainable community. All arable land was transformed into local food crop gardening by anyone who might make something grow. Farmland soils which had be depleted by factory farming were replenished through composting and tilling. The land was worked by oxen and plows, which resulted in the soil wasn’t compacted the way it was when the farms were worked by trucks and tractors. Millions of bicycles were manufactured, large public buses were improvised, and centralized businesses were decentralized to neighborhoods and villages to ensure that long-distance commuting was not necessary. That meant every industry … healthcare, education, light industry, grocery stores ….

Approximately the typical Cuban adult lost 20 pounds through sparse diets, but soon, the farmers’ markets were rich with locally grown organic food. There is no famine. There was no anarchy. Instead, there is a very rapid government-mandated move to a sustainable economy.

There is an eerie parallel in Hawaii. Hawaii is an island economy. The 2 biggest cash crops in Hawaii until recently were sugar cane and pineapple, and several different production was shipped overseas while consumable foods and energy-producing fuel continue to be shipped in in the US mainland. Any natural disaster or manmade incident for example 9/11 could easily disrupt the flow of food and, and then leave Hawaii at nighttime almost as quickly because it happened to Cuba.

Because of its geographic isolation, Hawaii should start on the road to sustainability now, instead of waiting until darkness strikes. They are already making strides in the region of one’s independence through efforts to improve the use of solar, wind and wave power, but the areas are badly in need of faster progress. Particularly, Hawaii could study from Cuba’s experience in the following areas:

Sustainable agriculture available to more of its citizens through the islands. Including education in addition to use of plots of land that aren’t becoming used to boost the food supply.
Sustainable transportation. Best of luck to those who live on the Windward coast but work in Kapolei … a bicycle beyond about 20 miles is not a realistic solution, but for trips under ten miles, bicycles ought to be strongly encouraged.
Sustainable housing. Have you ever lived around the 20th floor of the building when the electricity went?
Sustainable healthcare. With this current type of healthcare, there isn’t enough use of doctors. Yet most people don’t actually need doctors, they need coaching and reassurance that they’re making healthy lifestyle choices. So community healthcare can be expanded by supporting reasonable alternatives lacking critical and primary care physicians.
Sustainable culture. It’s interesting that both Cuban and Hawaiian cultures have rich musical and dance traditions. Hawaii’s stir-fry ethnic mix must find a common ground, where most people are interested in their neighbor’s welfare. Then, there will be a sustainable culture.