Russians protest incinerated pork

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Pork burns as Russian sanctions continue, the Moscow Times reports. As part of Russia's continuing retaliatory sanctions against the West, President Vladimir Putin ordered that any embargoed goods found by border officials – which previously were sent back to their place of origin – are to be destroyed. According to the Moscow Times, these goods include any beef, pork, poultry, fish, fruit, vegetables, dairy products and nuts produced in the United States, European Union (EU), Australia, Norway or Canada. Even before the law came into effect on Aug. 6, the Washington Post reported that officials in the city of Samara had begun destroying 35 tons of pork that were presumed to have come from the EU.

Many people in Russia are condemning this waste of food, especially since – as of March – Reuters reports that 16 per cent of the Russian population were living below the poverty line. A Change.org petition calling for the law to be revoked had more than 340,000 signatures as of Aug. 10. According to the Washington Post, the petition's author asks, "Why should we destroy food that we can use to feed veterans, pensioners, invalids, those with many children, victims of natural disasters and others in need?" BP