Statements made on Cuban state television regarding the food crisis have sparked a wave of outrage, sarcasm, and criticism on social media after an official suggested that Cubans reduce or abandon their consumption of rice and potatoes.
The words were spoken by Roberto Caballero, a member of the National Executive Committee of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians, during the official program Cuadrando la Caja.
According to the official, one of the main obstacles to achieving so-called "food sovereignty" is that Cubans consume foods "that are not native to the country."
With their suggestion, they held the population's "eating habits" responsible for the issues in the agricultural sector.
Caballero stated that potatoes "have never adapted to the climate and soils of Cuba" and that their production results in more losses than benefits for the state.
He also questioned the high consumption of rice and went so far as to say, "We are not Asians," suggesting that this habit can and should be changed.
The statements generated a wave of critical reactions. Activist José Luis Tan Estrada quipped: “From ‘we don't have fish because there are hardly any fish in the waters of Cuba’ to ‘eating too much rice exacerbates the food crisis.’ Gems.”
The journalist José Raúl Gallego sarcastically remarked, “We Cubans have already stopped eating beef because we're not Uruguayans, and fish because... we don't live on an island surrounded by the sea.”
For Ulises Aquino Guerra, what was said on television confirms "the ineptitude and the brutal incapacity" of the system.
"Now it turns out that we don't need to eat potatoes, rice, meat, or eggs. The indigenous people only ate casabe... They also didn’t need electricity," he wrote, labeling the speech as a way to justify the country's unproductivity and demoralize the population, right at Christmas.
Other users responded by dismantling the argument from history and culture.
Lara Crofs recalled that rice is a cornerstone of traditional Cuban cuisine, featured in iconic dishes such as arroz con pollo, moros y cristianos, and arroz con frijoles, with influences from African, Spanish, and Chinese cultures.
It also compared figures: before 1959, Cuba produced an average of 163,000 metric tons of milled rice per year; by 2025, production is estimated to be less than 30,000 tons, forcing the country to import the grain.
"This year in Havana, I had to pay up to 450 pesos per pound," she reported.
Activists like Mario J. Pentón and Eliécer Ávila agreed that the official narrative shifts the blame for the food crisis onto the population, rather than acknowledging the structural issues of the state agricultural model, the lack of investment in the countryside, and the obstacles faced by producers.
On social media, many pointed out that it is contradictory to recommend malanga, yuca, or boniato when they are also unavailable in the markets, while the country faces inflation, chronic shortages, and insufficient wages.
For many Cubans, the message was clear: instead of offering real solutions, the regime is once again asking for sacrifices and dietary changes, blaming the people for not adjusting to the scarcity.
"According to the government, the issue is not the economic disaster," a user summarized, "it's that Cubans eat poorly."
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