Dear friends,

The Organic Consumers Association is happy to announce our new Cuba project with an opportunity to join a Research Delegation to Cuba, in collaboration with Global Exchange.* As you know, Cuba is one of the world's leaders in organic agriculture and sustainable development. To learn more about the Cuban experience and build bridges among our communities, the OCA is providing the following opportunities:

1. Join the Organic Consumers Association on a research delegation to Cuba.
2. Host a house party and screen the breakthrough documentary "The Greening of Cuban Agriculture" by Food First.
3. Educate yourself on organic agriculture and sustainable development in Cuban with the OCA's Cuba Reader.
4. Support the grassroots effort to End the Travel Ban Against Cuba

International Models for Environment and Development
Havana, Cuba
July 3-10, 2005

Global Exchange and the Organic Consumers Association invite you to participate in a research delegation to Cuba focusing on Cuba's programs on environment and development. Exchange with world specialists working in these same areas, and learn why the Cuban model, while it has many challenges, has received worldwide recognition in many fields of sustainable development.

Delegation participants will be able to fact-find and do research on a variety of themes through participation with Cuban and international specialists in Cuba's 5th International Convention on Environment and Development to be held at the Convention Palace in Havana. Additional programming, visits and meetings according to participant interest will also be included.

Theme areas include:

• Protected Areas
• Environmental Education for Sustainable Development
• Environmental Business Management
• Tourism and the Environment
• Health, Quality of Life and Environment
• USA-Cuba Cooperation on the Environment
• Watershed Management
• Hydraulic Resource Management
• Coastal Ecosystem Management

Cost: $1,900 from Cancún

How to Register:

Global Exchange works to facilitate licensed travel to Cuba according to current US policy restricting travel to the island. This is a licensed trip to Cuba.

We hope to receive applications and a non-refundable deposit of $200 two months before departure. Payments by Mastercard or Visa are welcome.

This trip will be as diverse as possible in terms of race, age and life experiences. We strongly urge people of color to apply. In some cases, a limited number of partial scholarships are available for low-income applicants.

Contact JoJo White (Jojo@globalexchange.org), or call toll-free 1-800-497-1994 and be sure to ask for the OCA Cuba trip.

• This is a research trip. Each participant will need to design a series of research questions and write a report. The findings will be compiled and edited by the organizing institutions, posted on our website, and possibly published in other venues.

Global Exchanges supports the freedom to travel to Cuba, along with the freedom of information. We believe one of the most important tools in ending the embargo and travel ban against Cuba is by making complete and accurate information available to the U.S. public. We are currently recruiting consultants to support our research and information gathering efforts in Cuba. You can be a part of supporting our efforts to make this much-needed information available to professionals, researchers, students and the general U.S. public.

Is it Legal to Travel to Cuba?

Global Exchange is a licensed Travel Service Provider by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. Global Exchange facilitates legal travel to Cuba for groups with their own specific license, for individuals who fall under the general licensing categories of OFAC and for individuals traveling under a humanitarian/religious license. Please visit the website of OFAC at Office of Foreign Assets Control for guidelines and qualifications of general licensing.

As many of you know, Cuba is the world's leader in organic agriculture. Cuba has demonstrated to the world that it is possible to radically shift from industrial, toxic agriculture to farmer centered, organic agriculture.

The OCA, in collaboration with Food First, is offering the groundbreaking video, "The Greening of Cuba," for educational house parties. "The Greening of Cuba" profiles Cuban farmers and scientists working to reinvent a sustainable agriculture model, based on ecological principles and local knowledge rather than imported agricultural inputs. In their quest for self-sufficiency, Cubans combine time-tested traditional methods with cutting edge organic techniques.

When trade relations with the socialist bloc collapsed in 1990, Cuba lost 80 percent of its pesticide and fertilizer imports and half its petroleum--the mainstays of its highly industrialized agriculture. Challenged with growing food for 11 million in the face of the continuing US embargo, Cuba embarked on the largest conversion to organic farming ever attempted.

Told in the voices of the women and men--the campesino, researchers, and organic gardeners--who are leading the organic agriculture movement, "The Greening of Cuba" reminds us that developed and developing nations alike can choose a healthier environment and still feed their people.

To order your Greening of Cuba party pack for $30:

1. Make your donation of $30 to receive your DVD or video of "Greening of the Cuba," your OCA house party manual, and OCA Cuba Reader. You can make your donation one of three ways:

" PHONE: Call the main OCA office (218-226-4164)

" MAIL: Send your donation with a note indicating you'd like the house party pack (please also note whether you'd prefer video cassette or DVD).
Organic Consumers Association
6101 Cliff Estate Rd,
Little Marais, MN 55614

" WEB: Donate online with our secure credit card form. In the "Comments" box on the credit card form, please indicate you'd like the CUBA house party pack (please also note whether you'd prefer video cassette or DVD)

2. Email: information@organicconsumers.org or call 218-226-4164 let us know you are interested (or with any questions you may have).

Please contact Ryan at ryan@organicconsumers.org for an email copy of the OCA Cuba Reader

The freedom to travel is a fundamental right of Americans. Travel helps farmers and businesses promote trade, and it increases American jobs. Lifting the ban on travel to Cuba will help redirect federal resources away from wasteful enforcement activities to bona fide efforts that truly fight terrorism. Restoring the freedom to travel will unite Cuban families on both sides of the Florida Straits. It will also enable our scholars, students, and artists to share information and knowledge consistent with our historic commitment to academic and cultural freedom.

For more information on Travel Ban Against Cuba, please visit:
http://www.cubaactionday.org/