14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 24 December 2024 — Turkey breasts from Minnesota, pork loins and legs that say “Made in USA” on the label, chickens raised in Brazil and pieces of impeccable beef fed with grass from the Iowa plains. A few hours before the Christmas Eve festivities, the platforms of Havana’s markets are mostly stocked with imported products, in a country where agriculture and livestock have reached rock bottom.
In the market on Tulipán Street in Nuevo Vedado, previously managed by the Youth Labor Army (EJT), of which only the name remains, the sellers announce this Tuesday pieces of pork at 1,000 pesos a pound, “clean, with little fat and without skin,” clarifies a smiling young man behind the counter. To convince the undecided customers, faced with the high prices, he emphasizes that the pieces “are yumas, no cubiches [foreign, not Cuban].” A few feet away, the packages of the Turkey Valley Farms brand display breasts “ready to put in the casserole or in the oven,” according to another employee. Each of the pieces is around 6,000 pesos.
Cut into cubes, for those who have fewer resources, in the market on 17th and K streets, once also in the hands of the EJT, minced chicken was also being sold. Despite not having the colorful packaging of the turkey or the appetizing presence of pork legs, the label that accompanies the product says it comes from the United States. Tired of the adulterations and the bad taste of animals raised with remains collected from the garbage or with fishmeal, those Cuban diners who can afford the dinner of this December 24 opt for animals born and slaughtered outside the Island.
To complete the panorama of the foreign, a bag of rice with the label of a Turkish company rests next to others of corn flour from Spain and some packages of sweets that make clear their Mexican or Panamanian origin. The dried spice packets from Goya and Iberia have also displaced the fresh cilantro of other years, the wild oregano that was added to the black beans, and, instead of the Creole sour orange to smear on the pork, a mojo of the Badia brand monopolized the looks and longings of those who passed by.
Of course, next to the butcher’s area, the platforms with yucca and lettuce exhibited only national goods. As soon as you saw them, you could tell they were coming from the yard. Some stunted cassava, full of dirt, attracted numerous elderly people who, with their bags hanging from their shoulders, formed a line at full speed. The leaves of the vegetables were beginning to get musty but, most likely, the vast majority will be sold before the sun sets.
Despite the inflation and the hard year that is coming to an end, many try to guarantee tonight’s family meal. As if of a spell to leave hardships behind, people are trying to rescue a certain festive atmosphere and the greeting that is most repeated in the streets says: “Merry Christmas.”
As the hours pass, the sorcery that some habaneros use to prepare their tables for tonight is more like an exorcism to expel the demons from the national debacle. It will also be accomplished with the foreign food that came from outside the country.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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