Movie Night @ The Center

A Documentary Film
About One Nation's Answers
to a Problem That Changed
All of Their Lives

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Sunday, May 21st
4pm to 6pm ~ $7 per person

Children Welcome with Parental Supervision ~ Yogi Tea Served

"Try to image an airplane suddenly losing its engines. It was really a crash"... A crash that put Cuba into a state of shock. There were frequent blackouts in its oil-fed electric power grid, up to 16 hours per day. The average daily caloric intake in Cuba dropped by a third... So Cubans started to grow local organic produce out of necessity, developed bio-pesticides and bio-fertilizers as petrochemical substitutes, and incorporated more fruits and vegetables into their diets. Since they couldn't fuel their aging cars, they walked, biked, rode buses, and carpooled."

In 1989-1990, things changed drastically for Cuba. Before then the country was the centerpiece of the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance. Due to societal transformations in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, COMECON as it was known, was dissolved. Cuba was faced, almost overnight, with a drastic shortfall of imports, and the disappearance of preferential markets for its own principal exports. (See a full report of this in the Food First sponsored "Development Report No. 14 - Cuba's New Agricultural Revolution: The Transformation of Food Crop Production in Contemporary Cuba", by Laura J. Enriquez, or the shorter article published in Harper's Magazine in June 2005 titled "The Cuba Diet".)

The hour-long documentary about how Cuba dealt with this new situation was produced by The Community Solution and it is getting very good reviews.

So how would we react under similar circumstances? Why should we are about Cuba? Is 'peak oil' affecting us? How will it when it does?

There are many who say we are on the verge of changes -- very big...no HUGE changes.

I feel this is true but none of us knows for sure what the future will hold. What I do know is we are being presented with the opportunity to learn something. And then to take a look at our own community, our own family -- our own individual lives most importantly. Now, we can make our own decisions. Under duress of 'the HUGE change' this may be more difficult, or almost impossible. I really don't believe anything is impossible. Our options are as wide as our imagination and our ability to manifest our own destiny.

So the film is being shown. All are welcome, including children (with parents to watch them.) I've ordered some comfortable chairs for sitting on the floor -- you can bring a blanket or pillows if you wish. I will serve hot Yogi Tea.

Space is limited so a call or e-mail ahead of time will assure a seat. If we have too many people for one afternoon, we can play it again the next.

If you have a group that would like to see the film, please let me know.

The Center contact information is:

427 East Center Street ~ Kalispell, Montana
Phone: 406-756-3458
E-mail: ana_starr@yahoo.com

Look forward to seeing you there and to hearing your thoughts.

Anais