•  LanternEverywhere   ( @LanternEverywhere@kbin.social ) 
    5•1 year ago

    Due to evolution, people will generally prefer to eat more calorically dense foods like meat, fat, and sugar whenever it’s an option. In the west people could afford more meat, fat, and sugar, while people in the USSR could only afford a smaller amount of that, so they had no choice but to consume cheaper food like grain and eggs.

    The difference in their diets wasn’t intentional, it was merely the result of westerners having more ability to acquire what they wanted, while soviets were stuck with what they could get.

    Additionally, every part of the world has different regional cuisines that are based on what ingredients were historically available and cultural norms. So even if you compare the diets of two societies that are otherwise equal in most ways (like UK vs. US) there will always be significant differences in what they eat.

    Nothing about the aims of socialism can be inferred from this report.

    •  uphillbothways   ( @uphillbothways@kbin.social ) 
      2•1 year ago

      If you take into account the effects of subsidies (which are social programs) on the availability of certain types of foods and how lobbying efforts form which subsidies make their way into law and practice, the aims of different forms of social programs definitely can be inferred. Further, the dollars spent on lobbying efforts come indirectly from the profitability of certain industries under given subsidy programs, so that sort of magnifies the effects of those dollars, based on where and what industries they are focused on.

      These are all choices made by societies, indirectly or directly, at some level. None of them are just given. There’s definitely an influence from differing environmental factors (land use, suitability and availability, differing climates, soil types, etc across the globe), but none of them have to be the way they ended up.

      All of that may be outside the scope of this report, but they are definitely contributing factors. Summed up, they speak to the aims of a given social structure.