Russia’s focus on nutritional self-sufficiency sets the country apart from almost all modern autocracies. Since the early days of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s rule, the regime has sought to prevent domestic unrest and insulate itself against potentially crippling Western sanctions by promoting Russia’s food independence. From the outset of the conflict, Russia has used food both as a shield and a weapon against international interference, with the world’s most vulnerable countries becoming collateral damage. Since then, the world has had to grapple with the fallout from two leading grain exporters warring with each other. Yet despite its significance, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, food availability was rarely discussed as a principal political issue outside the global South. When unequally distributed and not universally accessible, food is a potent tool of domination and social control. We also discuss Russia’s use of food as a weapon during the 2022 war in Ukraine.įood is and has always been political power. We present the origins of Putin’s food policies, their ideological basis and the forms that they have taken since early 2000s. This essay centers on the political role of food in Putin’s Russia and the Kremlin’s longstanding goal of establishing nutritional autarky that would insulate the regime from dependence on food imports. Yet despite its significance, until recently food availability was rarely discussed as a principal political issue outside the global South. Food has been crucial to the survival of regimes since the emergence of early states.
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