Amid the severe food crisis in Cuba, a woman identified as Yesi Concepcion posted a 46-second video on Facebook in which she shows how to prepare slugs in sauce for dinner, after having gathered them off the ground following the rain.
The clip has accumulated over 67,000 views and has become one of the most poignant testimonies to the lack of access to food that the island is experiencing.
"This is what I'll be eating in Cuba, gentlemen, because there is nothing, no meat. Well, there is some, but it's very expensive. So I'm going to prepare my slugs to cook them in sauce," he explained.
In the video, Yesi demonstrates how to chop the mollusks to cook them, accompanied by white rice, tomatoes, and ripe plantains.
"Well, gentlemen, as I always show you, this is what I'm going to eat. It rained, and I went out to look for some slugs because I'm going to make them in sauce since that's what I'm having for dinner tonight," he says with a casualness that amplifies the impact of the clip.
Slugs are shell-less gastropod mollusks that are not part of traditional Cuban cuisine.
Additionally, some species can transmit the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which causes meningitis, if consumed raw or undercooked.
In August 2026, pork in the Cuban informal market reaches between 1,400 and 1,900 Cuban pesos (CUP) per pound, chicken exceeds 11,300 CUP per package, and eggs reach 4,200 CUP per dozen, compared to an average state salary of only 6,930 CUP per month.
Pork production in Cuba collapsed from 200,000 tons in 2018 to just 9,000 tons in 2026, according to sector data.
The Food Monitor Program reported that 96.91% of the Cuban population lacked adequate access to food in May 2026, and one in three households experienced hunger in 2025.
In recent months, Cubans have turned to hunting wild birds, cats, and iguanas as a source of protein due to chronic shortages.
At the beginning of January 2026, a video showed farmers roasting a rodent for New Year's Eve dinner, and in March 2025, neighbors sacrificed and ate an abandoned cat in an episode that also circulated widely on social media.
Other viral videos from 2026 have documented Cubans preparing bomba fruit with fried egg due to the lack of rice, croquettes made with chicken bones, pureed root vegetables as a rice substitute, and bread with oil as the only available option.
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