ABSTRACT
Russia’s positive revolution in food supply was accompanied by a revolution in food distribution, which also occurred after 2000. Russia’s food distribution revolution is characterized by a distribution system with multiple ways to deliver food, and consumers have a diversity of choices as to how to obtain food. The Soviet retail food system presented consumers with several options, but by far the most economically important were state-owned food stores. Associated with urban state food stores were retail food stores associated with factories, enterprises, and institutions that permitted employees and workers to purchase food at their place of employment, often with a modest discount. Household food production was indirectly regulated by state-defined limits on the size of household land plots and the number of animals that could be raised. State retail food stores were the primary shopping outlet for urban consumers, complemented by urban farmers’ markets.
