We just spent a lovely week in Cuba at an all-inclusive resort. (As a Canadian, I can travel there without restriction.) The weather was perfect and the resort was friendly and full of kids.

I was a little concerned before we left because my family is a group who has a host of dietary restrictions. While all-inclusive resorts are lovely, they do tend to limit your food choices. In addition, my son has seasonal allergies and it’s spring right now in most of the Caribbean.

You can imagine my surprise when not one of us had a food allergy issue or sneezing problem of any kind!

I went armed for the worst. I had kid’s Benadryl. I had Imodium and Pepto Bismol in case someone ate something they shouldn’t. I had an arsenal of homeopathics to help speed a reaction out of a child’s or an adult’s body.

Turns out, we didn’t need any of it.

I had to wonder. Is it possible that my son is allergic to the pollen at home, but that a once yearly southerly vacation isn’t enough to sensitize him to “foreign” pollen?

Then, there was the food. I actually ate a few things that I really shouldn’t. (Having developed intolerances in adulthood, I still crave the occasional taste of a forbidden treat – like a piece of pie made with wheat flour.) I didn’t suffer, even when I cheated and ate gluten. It was a real surprise to me. Do they use a different strain of wheat? Is it grown differently?

Of course, I had to experiment once I had this interesting result. On the flight home, I decided to eat the multi-grain bun that came with the airplane food. I was suffering by the time I got home – and was cursing my stupidity.

Once settled in our own residence again, I researched Cuban agriculture.

Turns out, Cuba was forced to learn how to grow food without synthetic pesticides, insecticides and other chemicals after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1989. The former USSR had been the major supplier of such chemicals but that stopped in the chaos of the breakup of the country. Cuba had to find another way to grow food.

Cuba invested heavily in an agricultural approach that avoids chemicals and relies on understanding the environment. They now focus on using biological means of controlling insects, weeds and other pests as well as breeding plants that grow without destroying land or biosystems. They made this investment so that they could retain control over their own food production and could reduce their dependence on outside sources for agricultural inputs. At this point in time, they claim to be over 80% organic.

I don’t know if all that is true. What I know is this: I spent a week in Cuba, and I could eat things I can’t eat at home.