Farmers were without fertilizers, pesticides, or fuel for tractors. In an effort to stave off hunger, the Cuban government gave state-owned farmland to anyone who promised to grow food. The older people taught the younger people how to use the traditional techniques of growing food. Through the transition period, it's estimated that Cubans lost an average of 10 to 15 pounds in body weight per person.

Cuba is now recognized as a pioneer of organic farming worldwide with some 10,000 urban organic farms. One such farm, the Vivero Alamar Farm, is only 27 acres on Havana's outskirts, but produces food for 80,000 residents in the surrounding community. At Alamar, food production is successful without chemicals entirely and the vegetables and fruits are sold on the premises to people in the neighborhood. It's part of a well-organized system here that's gained attention as a model for other parts of the world and daily attracts visiting experts. They use a lot of biodiverse interplanting rather than monoculture fields full of corn or soy like we see in the U.S. They're using marigolds to attract the pollinators and a lot of natural insecticides. Beds of worms are bred to break down manure into nutrient-rich compost.