At the end of 2008, a powerful hurricane swept through Vinales Valley, and destroyed their home. From this bad experience, they got a new idea: to build a training center that children could visit, an alternative school, where they could learn about the land.

Now, their farm is part of a “credit and service cooperative”, that works with other privately owned farms to gain access to credit and services. These type of farms represent about 17% of all Cuban farms. El Paraiso is also a Finca Agroecologica education center and demonstration organic farm.

Our group consisted of five people yet they set out a mouth-watering, ample buffet for us. The prices were reasonable and I tried the anti-stress smoothie and loved it!  First came the taro chips, crispy and fresh, then a potato squash stew, salads, fried cassava, plantain, potatoes, green beans and carrots, roast chicken, goat, barbequed pork, rice and beans, fresh fruits, and more.

The only downside was that we couldn’t eat all the food! After our lunch, they told us that they would feed the leftovers back to the farm animals as part of their sustainable operation.