Russian Revolution Diet

Famine is something that Russia could be said to be very familiar with. Some of the greatest tragedies Russia experienced under Soviet rule were the famines that occurred in 1921, 1932, and 1947. The scope of the devastation is still unparalleled within the country’s borders and around the globe. While the damage and hardship endured during these trying times is uncontested, their specific causes are still held in contention.

Now of course I could go on with lots a delicious Russian dishes such as pelmeni, and shuba, and blin, and oh my gosh I complete forgot to have lunch. Each of those dishes gives a better

Stalin ordered the intentional starvation of Ukraine and killed as many as 7.5 million Ukrainians. Although the Ukraine is considered the “breadbasket” of the Soviet Union where the most productive farms are, the food produced was removed for residents of other parts of the country and Ukrainians were left to starve. The widespread and horrible scale of the starvation led people to eat the dead, and 2500 were convicted of cannibalism. The independence minded people of the Ukraine were starved into submission, pure and simple. Soviet propaganda denied the famine for many years, refusing to admit Stalin’s psychotic willingness to kill people or allow the world to think people in Ukraine could possibly starve. Soviet propaganda also spread into western countries with false messages that the famine was natural and not planned. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian and Ukrainian officials were somewhat more forthcoming, but the issue remains a hot topic between Russia and Ukraine.

I chose to address the questions what are the strengths and weaknesses of the American diet, as well as, what is distinctive about American food. I chose these questions to focus my research paper on because of the relationship between the American diet and health care. The United States is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, due to immigration, which is what makes it so distinctive. The diet also has many flaws including the cause for rising medical issues. I have a pre-nursing major, so diet plays a big role in the medical field. My purpose for researching the American diet is to be able to…. With the Industrial Revolution, the inventions of many new products such as processed foods, refrigerators, and fast food chains.

Thinking about the importance and significance of food respective to our health, ethnic culture and society can cause cavernous, profound, and even questionable thoughts such as: “Is food taken for granted?”, “Is specialty foods just a fad or a change in lifestyle?”, and even “Is food becoming the enemy.” Mark Bittman, an established food journalist, wrote an article called “Why take food seriously?” In this article, Bittman enlightens the reader with a brief history lesson of America’s appreciation of food over the past decades. This history lesson leads to where the social standing of food is today and how it is affecting not only the people of America, but also the rest of the world.

This paper will discuss the multifaceted relationships among food, and culture. I will be looking at the relationships people have with food, and explore how this relationship reveals information about them. Their food choices of individuals and groups, can reveal their ideals, likes and dislikes. Food choices tell the stories of where people have travelled and who they have met along the way.

By the eighteenth century the diet of Russia’s peasantry that would continue untouched for almost two hundred years had been determined. Peasants consumed mainly various types of grains in differing forms: bread, kasha, and blinis were the most common. Grains were one of few items that could be grown abundantly throughout Russia hence their universality.1 Vegetables were not as universally possible in Russia and their percentage in diets relied on location, time of year, and preservation possibilities. Even so cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, peas, mushrooms, radishes, turnips, onions, and beats were the most common, although each region produced them at varying rates. Potatoes, a common element now, were not popular in Russia nor grown abundantly

The book was more propaganda than reality, but it still contains a unique perspective on how everyone viewed food in the Soviet Union for the simple fact that if anyone wanted to be considered culturally enlightened their culinary ideology had to align with that of the book.20 The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food gave a narrative version of the feast everyone thought they would be experiencing when in fact they were still

It is also interesting to note the striking similarity to the peasant diets of old, but with substantially more meat. Other than quantity and quality, many of the vegetables remained with the addition of corn. Other than ketchup and how people created food, many of the dishes were copies of the old ones. There is a whole chapter about kasha and there is not much new about what the finished product would be: either sweet or savory with animal fats. Bread is expected at every meal.42 The dishes in the book that were actually available were disturbingly similar to what the peasants of old Russia ate

The Western Diet mainly consists of fried foods, refined grains, sugar, high carbohydrate and fats, and meats (3). It has been hypothesized that having a Western Diet increases one’s chances for developing depression. There has been a great deal of research into why the western diet increase’s one chance of having depression. A common sense reason maybe that the Western Diet consisted of large amounts carbohydrates, fats and sugars which promotes obesity and then causes depression (1). More scientific evidence suggest that having a improper diet like the Western Diet negatively affects peripheral and central dopamine, which are neurotransmitters (chemical which transmit signals across the synapse from the nerve cell to the target cell)

Ozeki’s review of the food cultures of the two countries --- stereotypes about food, the conception of food culture, and the revelations to be taken from food culture point out people’s perceived superiority that they are overconfident about their daily diets.

The third chapter of the book called Cuisine and Culture by Linda Civitello, discussed a variety of topics ranging from the Christian diet in A.D. 500-1000, to the diet of Muslims during their Empire regien and concluded with the changes that occurred to people’s food and drink choices as the medieval times approached an end. One major points made in the discussion regarding the food and drink changes in the medieval times was the Turkish culture. Civitello mentions that the “Turkish cuisine is one of the great cuisines of the world, elaborate and specialized” (87). This statement reminded me of all the elaborate and flavorful Turkish foods, I have eaten. Specifically, one of my favorite candies known as the Turkish Delight or Lokum, comes

This essay is going to describe how the society has an influence on food choice. Food is very important to the human body since it has the right nutrients for a balanced diet in order to enable good health and growth. However people depend on food, as people need food throughout, for the body to constantly work. However this essay is going to explore how food choice has influenced the internal and external factors that may actually have a little to do with the food itself, and in order to give a clear concept this essay will therefore explore the social factors of what one has to eat.

Moreover, it will discuss the changes of the traditional food over the years. This report consists of four parts. The literature review is the first part, which summarizes the relevant academic sources related to this report. Then, the next section will discuss the methods that were followed to reach the results of this report. The third section will describe and analyse the data, showing how it affected the research. Finally, the report finishes with a conclusion that summarizes the data, and a discussion considering the limitations and recommendations for future research.

Thus it is not surprising that revolutions broke out and finished almost at the same time. The second was nationality factor, where during the WWI and WWII people of Eastern Europe had immigrated from one to another country leading the blurred national differences among them and this “common nation” sense helped them to resist altogether. During the Soviet period life expectancy immensely decreased, in contrast infant mortality increased, “They promised bread, but produced food shortages and rationing”.( Molloy P., pp.28-29) Ronald Reagan announced that Soviet system starves its own population; all these speeches were closely listened by Eastern Europeans because of mass media. Television and radio spread among the people of East Europe the desire to get free; they were able to connect the western channels and could compare the differences between two systems. They began to demand being part of western community rather than