Valuable Waste: Soviet management of food scarcity in the early 1930s

Stalin’s “Great Break” of 1928 threw the Soviet population into a period of extreme material shortages. As hunger swept over the country, waste and its management became a central concern of the Party-State. This article situates food waste as a systemic feature of the Stalinist regime, providing fresh insights into both Food and Soviet histories. It explores the large campaigns that were launched to educate the Russian public about the need to minimize food waste in the 1930s and traces the uncertain rise of state canteens: eateries that were promoted as a rational and modern way to produce and distribute food throughout this period. In practice, as this article will show, these efforts to curtail waste and alter food behaviors were largely unsuccessful. Poor transport and storage conditions led to the deterioration of large quantities of food. But because of the severe shortages, spoiled food was frequently prepared and eaten by consumers regardless, leading to regular bouts of food poisoning for which cooks and canteen managers were blamed. All the while, Soviet political elites continued to perform their power and (relative) opulence by wasting their own food behind closed doors. In Soviet society, food waste was both a disgraceful practice to be avoided and a subtle symbol of wealth, prestige, and power.