Posted on 12/06/2014 9:46:57 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
'Buckwheat panic' Grips Russians As Economic Sanctions Bite
World | Agence France-Presse | Updated: December 07, 2014 10:31 IST
Moscow: With its warm, fluffy brown grains, buckwheat is the ultimate comfort food for Russians and as sanctions hit home, it is flying off the shelves in a shopping frenzy dubbed the "buckwheat panic".
Hard-hit by falling oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed over the Kremlin's role in the Ukrainian crisis, Russia is seeing a catastrophic depreciation of the ruble and steep inflation.
But while Russians grumble about the rising price of chicken, cheese or sausage, it was only when rumours spread of buckwheat supplies running low that shoppers dashed out to fill their trolleys.
Buckwheat "is not just a food, it is a national idea," Russia's leading business daily, Vedomosti, wrote recently in an editorial.
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While in the West buckwheat is more seen as a trendy food for the health conscious, in Russia it is a traditional staple, predating potatoes.
The cereal, which originates from India and Nepal, was first introduced to the Russians in the 13th century by the Mongol invaders. It was cultivated by Byzantine monks, leading to its name in Russian of "grechka," which sounds like Greek
(Excerpt) Read more at ndtv.com ...
Oh tay!
CC
Beat ya by 28 seconds. Not that it matters, I’m just bored.
CC
Is that Cornell West when he was a little boy?
I had to look up and post a picture though. :)
Nah, no gap in his teeth.
I’m posting from a greyscale older kindle so I can’t do that. Trying to save money so i ditched the phone and internet.
CC
Will this “Stymie” the Russian economy?
CC
I knew it wouldn’t take long for Buckwheat to make an appearance in this thread.
The first thing that the US Congress should do, BEFORE dealing with domestic issues, is to pass truly crippling sanctions on Russia (this includes bans on nonessential travel to Russia, all sales to Russia [including humanitarian shipments], and requiring all businesses from the US to leave Russia at once. This would also cause the US embassy in Russia to close. These provisions would also affect Belarus and Kazakhstan, and other Russian allies in the CIS. These sanctions would also declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism and require Russia to leave Ukraine and stop support of Iran and Syria before sanctions are lifted. It would also require Russia to grant independence to Chechnya. The People’s Republic of China would also be put on notice for its behavior.
China would laugh at its notice and say yeah, you and what Walmart?
Research our land route by rail into and out of Afghanistan sparky. And while you are at it, you have a blanket distribution plan in mind for Europe?
I see this as an opportunity to make money on the Russian black market, one box of Wolff’s Kasha at a time.
I think I’ll threaten my credit card issuer. The one that i hypothetically have over a year of my income charged against. I’ll let you know how it works out when I “put them on notice”.
Heh heh... as far as I know they can still order it off the web, unless Putin has that blocked lest Russians become envious of the West again.
Whatever the West lacks, it isn’t food. Starve in the West and it is generally your personal fault.
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