The Moral Geography of Food in a Dual Economy: Tourist versus Domestic Consumption in Cuba

The opening of the Cuban economy to tourism and to the United States dollar has had a profound impact on the spaces and subjects of food production, exchange and consumption. While ‘luxuries’ sold in hard currency are now legally available to a particular subsection of society, namely visitors and privileged Cubans with hard currency, most people remain attached to the state-controlled peso economy as they only receive peso wages. In this article I argue that the uneven development of Cuba’s food retail sector has led to inequalities in access and accessibility, and that these disparities are justified and contested in moral terms. The paper reveals how Cuba’s long-term dream of political and economic sovereignty affects the way food is produced and consumed on the island.