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J.Barchfield/
Cuba's half-dozen vegetarian restaurants were opened in the 2000s under the government's go-vegetarian initiative.
Now most have either closed down completely or replaced soy and vegetables with meat.
Meat is considered the pillar of the Cuban diet while embracing vegetarianism is considered insanity.
Cubans lust for meat is linked to the country's "Special Period": an era of acute food shortages in the early 1990s.
"It was a time of forced vegetarianism that left a really bad taste in people's mouths," says a militant vegetarian. "The 'Special Period' really hurt the cause of vegetarianism in this country. ... Meat became an obsession for people who lived through that time."
