Problems of food security in the Russian Arctic

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse food security of the Russian Arctic regions’ inhabitants. International context consideration allows to show some contradictions in food security concept understanding, that FAO and Russian political elite have. Social disproportions in economic affordability and physical availability of food, consumer preferences and behaviour are revealed. The article addresses original empirical data, statistical regression and factor analysis to examine consumers’ behavioural features, associated with economic inaccessibility of vital food products. It is noted that families with three or more children constantly economize, not buying the necessary amount of meat and meat products, fish and seafood, fruits and berries. Research results indicate that the governmental food security policy should be adapted to the realities of Arctic region inhabitants. We pay special attention to the need to shift the food security concept from external threats and hunger to threats that local population face every day. This problem is particularly relevant for the Russian Arctic zone residents.

Consumer Trust in Quality and Safety of Food Products in Western Siberia

“…Yet, as the financial situation improves, the criterion of taste becomes visibly more attractive: 47% for "the poor" group and 75% for "the wealthy" group. These findings correspond to our previous studies (see for example [47]).…”

Post-Soviet Transformations in Russian Rural Areas: The Role of Institutions

“…It should be noted that the research of rural areas and territories is not limited only to zones favorable for agriculture, therefore we considered the results of other studies. The possibilities of building vertical farms in the Russian Arctic and new economic models of sustainable development are described in [31]; the peculiarities of nutrition and health status of residents of the northern regions of the world and Russia are considered in [32]; the problems of food security in the Russian Arctic are discussed in [33]. In the related food products topic, the advantages and limitations of environmental efficiency measures are evaluated on the example of the Polish food industry [34].…”

Advantages and Constraints of Eco-Efficiency Measures: The Case of the Polish Food Industry

“…Sustainable production is about linking the production process at all stages of a product's life cycle to the concept of reducing the use of resources in production [11]. Indeed, it can be said that although the concept of eco-efficiency appeared as early as the 1990s as a practical tool for measuring sustainability, it was not until 2000 that it was introduced by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development [31] to define a management philosophy aimed at encouraging companies to seek environmental improvements that bring economic benefits in parallel [2,[32][33][34]. In other words, companies can achieve higher profitability while taking responsibility for the environment.…”

“…Each of them bears a high risk of business activity [1]. Moreover, the problem of the food economy is of great importance in all regions of the Earth, and in some it causes special problems [2].…”