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/* Written  3:45 PM  Aug  3, 1995 by foodfirst in igc:dev.foodfirst */
/* ---------- "Cuban Organic Farmers to Visit CA" ---------- */
PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 3, 1995 
KILL DATE AUGUST 29, 1995

Contact: Anouk Patel (Tel: 510-654-4400; 
Fax: 510-654-4551).    

CUBAN ORGANIC FARMERS TO VISIT CALIFORNIA

OAKLAND, AUGUST 3 QQ  On August 9th, 1995, a delegation 
of Cuban organic farmers and researchers will begin a 
twenty-day visit to Northern California.  They will be 
visiting organic farms, suppliers of organic inputs, 
organic wholesale and retail outlets, and research 
centers at the University of California in Berkeley, 
Davis and Santa Cruz.  They are being hosted by the 
Oakland-based Institute for Food and Development Policy 
- known popularly as Food First, as part of a US-Cuba 
Organic Farming Exchange Program funded by the C.S. Mott 
Foundation of Flint, Michigan.

Cuba is presently in the midst of the first nationwide 
conversion to organic farming ever attempted by any 
country.  Because Cuban imports of pesticides and 
fertilizer fell by 80% after the collapse of the 
socialist bloc, farmers and government planners have 
chosen organic alternatives as the best solution to the 
island nation's food crisis.  The isolation induced by 
the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba has meant that 
Cubans have largely been unable to access information on 
organic farming in other countries, and thus have had to 
invent much new technology.  These Cuban innovations are 
of great interest to California organic growers, and, 
similarly, California organic farming methods could be 
very useful for Cubans.  Thus the planned ten-day visit.

			###

JOURNALISTS: FOR A LIST OF PRESS CONFERENCES TO BE GIVEN 
BY THE CUBANS (IN BERKELEY, DAVIS, FRESNO AND SANTA 
CRUZ) OR TO ARRANGE TO ACCOMPANY OR INTERVIEW THE CUBAN 
DELEGATION, PLEASE CONTACT MS. ANOUK PATEL AT TEL: 510-
654-4400, FAX: 510-654-4551, E-MAIL: anoukp@igc.apc.org