All These New Tourists Are Literally Taking the Food Off the Plates of Cubans Dave Gershgorn - Quartz
go to original December 12, 2016

Raul Valdes Villasusa, 76, smokes a cigar as he collects tobacco leaves on his farm in Vinales in the province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Farmers earn money from the government for their tobacco crop, and keep a small portion for their own use. (AP/Ramon Espinosa)

On the surface, rising tourism rates in Cuba might look like an injection of cash into the struggling island economy. Instead, tourists are just eating all the food.

Tourism in Cuba surged 11.7% in the first half of 2016, when more than 2 million people visited the island, and it’s only expected to increase. While most Cuban tourism comes from Canada, American travel regulation has slowly began to loosen, already creating a 76.5% increase of visitors from 2015.

And the prices for household staples like tomatoes, onions, and peppers have skyrocketed in Cuba, due to the country’s inability to support that sudden increase in population, according to a report from the New York Times.

“The private tourism industry is in direct competition for good supplies with the general population,” Richard Feinberg, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, told the Times.

Added Juan Alejandro Triana, an economist at the University of Havana: “We don’t just have to feed 11 million people anymore. We have to feed more than 14 million.”

Most produce seems to be off the menu for Cubans, with state-run markets pushing starchy, long-lasting food like rice, beans, and sweet potatoes. Choice produce is sold on private markets, to restaurants profiting most from the influx of strong foreign currency. A day’s worth of fresh produce could cost Cubans 10% of their $25 monthly wage.

...And the pressure on the Cuban food system shows no sign of abating.

Read the rest at Quartz

Related: Demand for Direct Travel to Cuba Starts to Grow as Flights Begin from US (Caribbean News Now)

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