The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1943-05-13
NUTRITION AND LABOR
THE RUSSIAN DIET

1t is precisely because of the Incl
dents cited in the last article that most
Americans fail to get true picture
of the Russian food situation. Many
travellers say il is exceptionally bad,
and some, like Wendell Willkie, con
slider Russia "One of the best fed ma
tions in the world" 1t is difficult to
know what the food situation is at the
present, with disturbed transportation
and NaZi occupations of the most fer
tile regions Certainly in 1897 it was
most inadequate, and it was not I'M
common to come across workers who
worked in plants without cafeterias,
who as result did not eat meat more
than once a month. The variety. Of
| food for the average person is eX-
trenely limited; and very few grocery
stores have items outside of the ra-
! the entire diet, namely, bread, salted
herring, meat when available. cabbage,
and potatoes. In the summer the sup
ply Of fruit and fresh vegetables is
fairly adequate, although prices are
| high.
! A large section Of the Russian work
! ing population gets between 200 and
300 rubles a month (1937). At that
time the following prices prevailed !:
Butter, 8 rubleS a b.: cheapest cuts Of
meat, S rubles lb. The ruble was then
90 cents. The bread was quite cheap
|
100 copecks to ruble. \ meal in a
restaurant was about II rubleS, and if
consisted usually OF bread, soup, a
fruit dessert, and tea.
1t is quite obvious then that the
nutritiOnal level could not be very
high. What really saved the Russian
diet is precisely the meal that my
American companions thought a shame
to serve in the middle Of hot day,
namely, bread, cabbage soup and the
irregular supplies Of other items. The
black bread, although it feels heavy
on the stomach, 50 to speak, is a nu-
tritious product made of whole rye
-four often mixed with wheat. 1t has
none of the vitaminS removed from it
as does our white bread, and supplies
a great deal of vitamin B1, protein,
calcium and iron, besides the energy
yielding starch. The soup is extreme
ly nutritious. If the cabbage is not
boiled too much it yields Il good deal
of vitamin &, which vitamin the Amer
lean diet gets from citrus juices and
| of
unknown to the vast majority of Rus
slams who must get their requirements
of this important vitamin from other
sources. This vitamin which protects.
us from scurvy is also found in pota-
toes of which Russia generally con-
sumeS more than we do. If boiled, with
even little consideration for the
warnings of science against OverbOil-
ing, the potato is a fairly good source
of yitamin c, containing besides min
erals, the B yitaminS, energy materials
and even some protein. 1t is the black
bread, potato and cabbage which have
saved the Russian population through
out the fateful years of the last few
decades. 1t is important to notice too
that in the absence of milk and cheese
the Russian diet supplies the impor-
tant calcium through the large guam
titles of black bread consumed. The
average Russian consumes readily 4
pound of bread, if not more, day, if
and when he can get it. With the meat
in the soup, usually some cereal such
rs koSha (buckwhpat) and some yppa-
tables such as beets and carrots added
to enrich the flavor of the soup, the
diet on the whole is pretty well bal
anced. The vitamin \ is obtained from