At first food was scarce, and a rationing system was introduced to ensure that everybody could access the bare minimum for subsistence. As the country learned to adapt, new markets started up, selling an abundance of diverse produce to supplement the rations. The Cubans, who on average lost twenty pounds in weight in the years after the oil embargo, actually became healthier for the crisis. Other measures were taken. Millions of bicycles were bought in from China and manufactured on the island to enable people to move about town. Vast articulated buses -know as ‘camellos’ (camels) were devised to transport the maximum number of people (up to 300) from district to district. Solar panels were installed to electrify schools, hospitals and community centres in rural villages. The country learnt to survive without the Soviet oil.

The Power of Community is a fascinating, and rather optimistic documentary, which suggests that the future isn’t necessarily as bleak as most peak oil commentators suggest. The message is simple: we need to change the way we go about producing and consuming our food, and living our lives. The film doesn’t address one issue though: the fact that when the Special Period began the Cubans, after thirty-odd years of socialist rule, already lived in a society in which the value of community and solidarity had been maximised. We can all learn the techniques that they developed to survive the crisis. But do we have enough sense of community to pull together like they did? Oil production may or may not have peaked, but community spirit became a scarce resource in the West decades ago. AL