page_title: Rationing in Cuba
section_title: Standard rations
hierarchical_section_title: Rationing in Cuba / Standard rations
caption_attribution_description: English: Cuba has two parallel currencies: National Pesos and Convertibles to Dollars (CUCs). National pesos only buy goods in bulk , limited with a &quot;Libreta&quot; to a fixed quantity each month. This chart shows the price of the 10 or 20 staples available in a &quot;Bodega&quot; depending on the week day. Havana (La Habana), Cuba
context_page_description: Rationing in Cuba refers to the system of food distribution known in Cuba as the Libreta de Abastecimiento. The system establishes the amounts of subsidized rations each person is allowed to receive through the system, and the frequency at which supplies can be obtained. While the food rations are not free, the ration fees are a small fraction of the actual price of the goods. Purchases of the goods can also be made outside of the system, but they are typically too expensive for most Cubans to afford.
  Despite past rumors of ending, the system still exists. As of 2012, a coupon book taken to a ration shop provided family minimums for rice, sugar, matches, and oil, above the average wage of $30/month. While most Cubans do not have to pay for rent, healthcare, or education, ration fees often take up a large percentage of their monthly income, and the unsubsidized costs of their monthly rations would be greater than the average monthly income.
context_section_description: A table follows that illustrates the standard ration distributed through this system. Figures are per person, per month. An indication of the subsidized prices is given, as well. Allowances vary from year to year, so these should be understood as approximate figures, based on data from 2000:
  Meat products are distributed separately, if available, following a different rationale. These are distributed every 15 days, and usually rotate (that is, the product type changes on each delivery). Fish, beef, ground beef (usually mixed with soy), chicken, sausages and ham fall in this category. Quantities, and prices, differ for each meat product (beef, ½ lb/person each 15 days, whereas chicken is 1 lb/person every 15 days).
  It must be said that distribution is not always prompt, and product delivery is frequently delayed (for example, if one month there were no beans to distribute, they usually cumulate for next month, although this is not always the case). Such delays are most evident in beef distribution. The fact that products are not available at the bodega always, but arrive in a more or less random manner, creates long queues when products arrive, which sometimes makes buying the products a quite lengthy process. So, this required a mechanism to be invented so that people with special needs, such as old persons and pregnant women, had precedence on the queue. This mechanism became known as Plan Jaba. Jaba is a word for a flexible basket or bag taken from the vocabulary of Neo-Taino nations and originally was made of dried woven strips from palm fronds.
  It was estimated in the early 2000s that the rationing covered between one third and one half of a family's needs.
  President Raul Castro moved to eliminate many products from the rationing system, including potatoes and peas.
caption: Distribution blackboard displaying the products, prices and limits (as of January 2011).
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