Content creator Yudith Garcés Garcés published a reel on Facebook in which she shows, one by one, the food that was spoiled by power outages and heat in Cuba.
The Cuban mother poses a question that sums up the drama of thousands of families on the island: "How do you explain to your children that there is no food because it has spoiled?"
Garcés makes it clear that he is not seeking sympathy on social media, but rather aiming to showcase a daily reality in the country. People are unable to organize their household economies or plan meals in the long term because there is no way to preserve food.
"I don't want to show pity; that's not my goal. I want to show you the reality that Cuban families are living and leave evidence, a record of what all the mothers here in Cuba are experiencing," she said.
Her words point to something deeper than material loss. "It's not just painful to lose food; it hurts the effort, the time, the money, and the hope of being able to put a meal on the table."
The comments on the video reflect a mix of helplessness and solidarity. "It hurts so much, there are no words," wrote one follower. Another expressed: "My heart broke. May God help them. Father, how long?"
A third person resignedly remarked, "You have to buy the newspaper. It shouldn't be this way, but that's what life is like. One day I hope everything will change. Let's have faith. Everything in Cuba is very painful."
In the face of desperation, a commentator offered practical advice for preserving meat without refrigeration: sun salting for two or three days, frying in lard sealed in a glass jar, or pickling with vinegar and garlic.
His final warning says it all: "If you don't have salt, don't store raw meat. Cook it all today well fried; it lasts longer cooked than raw."
The energy crisis behind every lost food item
Cuba suffered its sixth total collapse of the National Electric System on the night of Sunday, August 2. By dawn on Monday, only 14% of the supply had been restored in Havana.
The Minister of Energy and Mines, Vicente de la O Levy, acknowledged on July 30 that there are communities experiencing 105 days of continuous blackouts. The official warned that the solution to this national energy crisis will not come soon.
The consequences of the power outages on food supply are devastating
The National Food Security Survey 2025 from the Food Monitor Program, based on 2,513 responses from the 16 Cuban provinces, revealed that 47.59% of households reported losses of refrigerated food, a figure that reached 80% in Granma, Matanzas, Pinar del Río, and Sancti Spíritus.
Testimonials like that of Garcés Garcés are very common in Cuba. In July, another mother showed how her rice, mango, cassava, and cherries went bad.
In May, a woman shared the moment she threw away an entire pot of fermented beans.
In a country where feeding children is a challenge, videos on this topic are a clear reflection of collective exhaustion.
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