As a legacy of the slave plantation economy first established under Spanish rule, much of the island’s agriculture is industrial scale, with many crops grown for export or testing purposes. Roughly 85 percent of the food Puerto Ricans actually eat is imported.
After Hurricane Maria, just as the upheaval revealed the perils of Puerto Rico’s import addicted and highly centralized energy system, it also unmasked the extraordinary vulnerability of its food supply. All over the island, industrial-scale farms growing mono-crops of banana, plantains, papaya, coffee, and corn looked they had been flattened with a scythe.
For 28 years, Organizacion Boricua has been publicly making the case that “agro-ecology” should form the basis of Puerto Rico’s food system, capable of providing adequate, affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food for the entire population. Agro-ecology refers to a combination of traditional farming methods that promotes resilience and protects the biodiversity, a rejection of the pesticides and other toxins, and a commitment to rebuilding social relationships between farmers and local communities.
The group has been warning about the dangers of chokepoints in Puerto Rico’s highly centralized system, with almost all of its food imports shipping out of a single port in Jacksonville, Florida.
