Russian President Vladimir Putin wants his country to be the world's leading provider of organic food.
In a message issued to the Russian Parliament last Thursday, Putin says (via RT):
"We are not only able to feed ourselves taking into account our lands, water resources - Russia is able to become the largest world supplier of healthy, ecologically clean and high-quality food which the Western producers have long lost, especially given the fact that demand for such products in the world market is steadily growing,"
Putin's drive towards a self-sufficient Russia comes as the country's food industry is in the midst of a standoff with the West following the invasion of the Crimean Peninsula last year. The country has several embargos in place that outlaw imports hailing from countries that have imposed economic sanctions for the act of aggression.
"Ten years ago, we imported almost half of the food from abroad, and were dependent on imports. Now Russia is among the exporters. Last year, Russian exports of agricultural products amounted to almost $20 billion - a quarter more than the revenue from the sale of arms, or one-third the revenue coming from gas exports," Putin continued.
In August, Russia destroyed countless tons of imported food items from EU nations; a move that was panned by many within the country. According to The Guardian's report:
"On the first day, newspaper RBK estimated that more than 300 tonnes of food was destroyed. Newsflashes came in from across the country as suspect food shipments were seized at the border and at wholesale markets: 650kg of Polish apples destroyed in Novosibirsk, Siberia; nine tonnes of carrots pulped just outside Moscow; a consignment of Irish pork detected at a warehouse in the town of Reutovo."
At the rate the country is going, Putin says Russia will be fully capable of supplying the domestic market with food by 2020.
