Russian Family Gardens Produce 40% of Russian Food

Health Impact News Editor Comments:

Earlier this month, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated that Russia will not import GMO products because Russia has enough space and resources to produce organic food.

This was not a political statement of posturing, given the current cool relations between the U.S. and Russia over the Ukraine. As it turns out, Russia’s food security is light years ahead of the U.S.

As you will read below, a significant portion of the Russian population own “dachas,” or seasonal garden homes, where they can grow their own food. At the height of the communist era, it is reported that these dachas produced 90% of the nation’s food. Today, with the land now privatized, they still comprise about 40% of the nation’s food.

Compare that with the United States, where less than 1% of the population controls the food, and small-scale family farms have for the most part been bought out by huge Biotech corporations.

In 2011 the dacha gardens of Russia produced 40% of the nation’s food

by NaturalHomes.org

Excerpts:

While many in the world are completely dependent on large scale agriculture, the Russian people feed themselves. Their agricultural economy is small scale, predominantly organic and in the capable hands of the nation’s people. Russians have something built into their DNA that creates the desire to grow their own food. It’s a habit that has fed the Russian nation for centuries. It’s not just a hobby but a massive contribution to Russia’s agriculture.

In 2011, 51% of Russia’s food was grown either by dacha communities (40%), like those pictured left in Sisto-Palkino, or peasant farmers (11%) leaving the rest (49%) of production to the large agricultural enterprises. But when you dig down into the earthy data from the Russian Statistics Service you discover some impressive details. Again in 2011, dacha gardens produced over 80% of the countries fruit and berries, over 66% of the vegetables, almost 80% of the potatoes and nearly 50% of the nations milk, much of it consumed raw.

Food sovereignty puts the people who produce, distribute and eat food at the centre of decisions about food production and policy rather than corporations and market institutions that have come to dominate the global food system. In 2003, the Russian government signed the Private Garden Plot Act into law, entitling citizens to private plots of land for free. These plots range from 0.89 hectares to 2.75 hectares. Industrial agricultural practices tend to be extremely resource intensive and can damage the environment. 70% of global water use goes to farming, and soil is eroded 10 to 40 times faster.

Read the Full Article Here.

The History of the Russian Dacha

RT.com

Excerpts:

The word “dacha” originated in the 17th century from the verb “davat’” (to give), in reference to plots of land distributed by the Tsar.

At the beginning of the 18th century during the reign of Peter the Great dachas became popular as summer holiday retreats.

Many foreigners can’t help wondering why Muscovites spend so much time in huge traffic jams on Friday and Sunday evenings from April to November (in the South of Russia – from March to December). The answer is simple – residents want to get out of the city right after work to spend as much time as possible at their dachas. For many generations these small summer homes have been a multi-functional phenomenon. Some people grow vegetables here to sell. Others grow the food to live on. There are also people who spend their holidays at their dachas. This way of leisure was popular in Soviet times and is making a comeback today with the global financial crisis cutting into many people’s savings.

In the middle of the 1950s, as the country healed from the devastation and hunger caused by World War II, people began to think about small plots of land in the country. For some it was not just a weekend getaway. A dacha with a small plot of land let people save their tiny incomes. Here they could plant their own vegetables. They stored potatoes in cellars, pickled cucumbers and made jams out of apples and pears in order to have some food reserves to last through the cold Russian winter.

The state played a big part in the process. There were many regulations at the local level. The biggest issue was the size of the allotment. In many regions plots did not exceed 0.06 hectares (in Russian – shest’ sotok). This figure was thoroughly calculated by the bureaucrats. A plot this size was too small for most people to live on permanently; authorities needed to keep workers in the big cities and were not interested in the restoration of private farming on a wider scale. The concession of the “zero point zero six of a hectare” was necessary because the country could not provide its people with enough food. As a result many dacha settlements sprang up with small houses standing right next to each another. Later all these quotas were lifted. The same was true for the size of the plot – if you wanted a bigger plot you could simply buy your neighbor’s land or find another plot somewhere else.

In the 1980s, due to the shortage of goods in stores, farming at dachas became a massive phenomenon. For some it was more necessity then pleasure, as modern farming tools were not readily available. But others took their dacha trials as a hobby. They took pride in inventing something unique for their flowers and vegetables, such as greenhouses or unique water-spraying devices. Still others tried to think of ways to fertilize the ground not just with manure, but other additives. Many unnecessary items from city apartments could easily be turned into useful gadgets for the dacha. For example, if you had too many empty cola bottles you could cut them in half and use the bottom part to protect young plants from cold spring nights.

By the end of the 1990s, most people had the opportunity to privatize their dachas if they wished. Those in high places did their best to keep their summer homes – in most cases they negotiated a lower price with officials.

Some researchers say that for many Russians the dacha is a way of “returning to paradise lost” – a source of temporary harmony away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Read the Full Article here.