The other day I read in one of the publications that a tin can with instant Indian coffee is a truly cult product of the times of the USSR and the ultimate dream of every Soviet citizen. But what is strange... This every Soviet citizen contemptuously called this product "dust of Indian roads".
I had a question, since every Soviet citizen despised a product, what the devil did he dream about? I even asked this question, but... they banned me, in general. Probably so as not to confuse young minds with his old man's grumbling.
Young minds now need to prove that the Soviet man did not sleep at night, did not eat for days, dreamed of importing everything, and without import he had nothing to eat! Therefore, every imported product immediately became a "cult"
I tried to remember what kind of "cult foods" and "dream food" existed? And none. Compiled a list of imported products that periodically flashed at our home
· Instant coffee, Indian, Brazilian, possibly Colombian.
· Processed cheese "Viola"
· Canned vegetables and fruits "Globus" and some other brand, it seems, is Bulgarian. I don’t remember the name exactly, but I don’t want to lie or quote someone.
· There were also frozen vegetables and fruits, in my opinion, Hortex.
· Sometimes Finnish appeared, sort of like sausage and also Hungarian.
Oh yes, bananas praised by the current propagandists, which used to be in short supply, but now even in the villages there are oranges and other overseas fruits (most often sold rarely)
The fact that they rarely appeared in our house does not mean that there was nothing to eat in the USSR and my parents spent their days fighting for a can of coffee.
This is about the fact that the Soviet Union was not so much dependent on the supply of imported food as now some are trying to suggest it, and, in fact, people did not need imported products then as much as now.
Grain - yes, we bought it. Anyone interested in digging through the statistical data will see that they bought grain most often of low grade, which was used for livestock feed.
1960 - 0.2 million tons (0.2% of domestic consumption)
1970 - 2.2 million tons (1.2% of domestic consumption)
1980 - 27.8 million tons (14% of domestic consumption)
1985 - 44.2 million tons (20% of domestic consumption)
1986 - 26.8 million tons (12% of domestic consumption)
But the data on meat (I remind you that low-grade wheat was used for cattle feed, which was bought a lot in other countries)
§ 1960 - 66.9 thousand tons (1.5% of domestic consumption)
§ 1970 - 165 thousand tons (2.3% of domestic consumption)
§ 1980 - 821 thousand tons (8.3% of domestic consumption)
§ 1985 - 857 thousand tons (7.4% of domestic consumption)
§ 1986 - 936 thousand tons (7.5% of domestic consumption)
But the share of food products and raw materials for their production in the volume of imports in the USSR
1940 - 15%
1950 - 20%
1960 - 13%
1970 - 16%
1980 - 24%
1985 - 21%
1986 - 17%
All figures are easily searched for in publications and articles devoted to the USSR's foreign trade and the structure of imports. If for someone a box of processed cheese or a can of coffee, or rather, the country of their origin or packaging, was critical, for those, probably, these were scarce and gourmet products. At home, they preferred simple hard cheese, and there was always ground coffee, and there was no need to fight in queues for it about the moment the USSR collapsed.
What do you remember from the import? Did they consider it a luxury and manna from heaven sent to us, the starving?