ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the close relationship between political and other factors and consumer choice or 'the cost of the plate'. The everyday life and meals of the Russian people in the twentieth century were influenced by numerous political, economic, and cultural events. During the Soviet period the ethnic composition of the country changed significantly because of extensive migration between the central Russian Federation and the Union Republics. 'Soviet cuisine' is a cultural term that determines merely the culinary peculiarities established from the middle of 1930s until the beginning of 1990s. The disintegration of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991 resulted in the forced migration of ethnic Russians from the Soviet Republics, who became, in effect, immigrants in the new Russian State. The disintegration of the former USSR in 1991 brought about a prolonged and severe economic crisis. Changes in the political life of Russia considerably affected the traditional food patterns.
