Food Rationing In Cuba

It's not easy to feed a family in Cuba. Food is rationed by the government and what a family is  allotted every month amounts to a ten-day supply of very basic items.

This is dinner for the average Cuban household - a bowl of rice with some black (or red) beans. Every now and then, if they're lucky, it will include a little green pepper.

I almost forgot - you get to have a dinner roll too. But there's no flour in Cuba so it's made with sweet potato. Yummmmmm.

Vegetables such as green peppers are not included in the monthly ration of food that the government allots to  each family. Neither are fruits. Fruits and vegetables must be bought  separately through the black market or at what are known as free markets, but only if you can afford the exorbitant prices... and if you're able to find them before the restaurants and hotels buy up everything in sight.

I will be discussing how the local population must scrounge to supplement its monthly supply of rationed food in my next post. In this post I'll simply introduce you to how food is rationed in Cuba and as you'll see it's a far cry from being all that and a bag of chips.

The Libreta, the Cuban ration book

In Cuba, each household receives a Libreta (ration book) with a list of family members. Age and gender predetermine what you're allowed to buy, take it or leave it. You are also assigned to a specific store, or bodega, and its clerk has a ledger for each household that identifies what that household may buy.

A page from the Libreta denoting the food product, amount dispensed, etc.

Varying from season to season, and depending on availability, each adult Cuban is allotted:

• 7 pounds of rice 
• 20 ounces of black beans (or red beans depending upon which is available)
• 3 pounds of refined sugar
• 3 pounds of crude sugar
• 1 pint of soybean cooking oil
• 5 eggs
• 1 pound of pasta
• 1 packet of mixed coffee (that is coffee mixed with fillers such as dried peas)
• 1 dinner roll/day made with sweet potatoes. 

Children are allotted 1 quart of milk a day until they turn seven. Milk can be also be bought for pregnant women and for the elderly. Meat and fish are distributed at separate markets and every month each person is allotted 2 pounds of chicken. Splurging on a pound of pork will cost 5% of your monthly income.

If you have a specific disease that dictates a need for additional food or if a doctor attests to your need for a special diet, you can receive additional rationed groceries but only for a limited time.

A meat market where beef is available but sold only to restaurants and hotels

Thinking about having a steak for dinner? Not a chance. Only state-owned meat markets can sell beef and are only allowed to only sell it to hotels and restaurants. Beef is such a prized commodity in Cuba that killing a cow results in a longer jail sentence than killing a human.

Local Cubans line up every day to obtain their food rations

To get your ration of food you have to stand in line. For a long time. In very long lines. Frequently, by the time you make it into the bodega (market) to get your food ration, the market is empty or near empty. Food availability is spotty and on a first come/first served basis.

This is what it's like to go food shopping in Havana. Feel free to experience what local Cubans endure in order to feed their families.

Ah, yes. The glory of Castro's revolution. A once-prosperous nation with ample food supplies now has its population scrounging for crumbs. Very ration-al.