Cuba’s barometers of abundance often taken unusual form. In this case, the availability of what most foreigners from Latin America, Europe or the United States would see as a normal-sized onion was one of those barometers. For nearly two decades since the Communist Party adopted reforms that allowed peasants to farm and sell their crops in agro-pecuarios [free peasant markets], finding onions that had not been pulled from the ground long before they were ready was next to impossible. Virtually all onions were stunted and tiny because farmers needed to maximize earnings and market demand always exceeded supply. Along with large, ripe plantains, the big onion was then an encouraging (if short-lived) sign of change.
