Now, such cereals as barley, millet and oatmeal are withdrawn from the diet of military personnel.
For those who at one time did military service, these cereals have their own history, or even a whole era. A few years ago, a Russian, and even more so a Soviet, private, could not even imagine that they would lose those "bolts" or "shrapnel" as the soldiers affectionately called this cereal.
As usual, such changes in the life of the army could not pass unnoticed not only by the military, but also by purely civilians. Some information and analytical agencies decided to conduct a large-scale sociological survey, in which people of various professions were asked how they feel about replacing pearl barley and millet with buckwheat and rice. Of course, many, answering the question, recalled their "wartime", when it was difficult to imagine an army breakfast without millet or pearl barley porridge. Most of the respondents reacted rather calmly to the planned changes, but there were also those who were ready to fight for barley to foam at the mouth.
Needless to say, pearl barley is a real symbol of the Russian army, but sooner or later the symbols can and often need to be changed. This is exactly what the high-browed officials thought. I immediately heard the words that despite the boundless love for this grain, one cannot ignore the fact that the new army also needs new food. Proponents of change say that the soldier should be happy to eat the food offered, and, what a sin, not many were and remain delighted with the "snotty" oatmeal and pearl barley. Another thing is that not everyone is crazy about buckwheat porridge, which is going to be introduced as a substitute. And if we talk about rice, this is generally an almost purely imported product.
Some will say: well, they replaced the cereals with one another, and the fool is with them. Others will pick up a calculator and begin to figure out how much it will cost the current army such cereal perturbations. By the way, here you can figure it out even without a calculator. So, the average price of barley in Russia today is about 10 rubles per kilogram, and the price of buckwheat ranges from 30 to 110 (!) Rubles for the same kg. It turns out that even in a simple scenario, it will cost 3 or more times more to feed soldiers with buckwheat for the military budget.
Opinions:
Ilya Kramnik, military expert:
Serdyukov's decision is correct - barley, millet, oatmeal are already boring, and buckwheat, rice, pasta - a higher level of nutrition. As for the changes in general, now the army food is being transferred to outsourcing. In this case, corruption risks are reduced. A fixed fee is established on the part of the military unit, which reduces the opportunities for corruption.
Mikhail GINZBURG, nutritionist, doctor of medical sciences:
The feeling of the decision to abandon barley in the army is twofold. On the one hand, this cereal has many nutritional benefits. She has a low glycemic index, which means that she can maintain a state of satiety for a long time, which is good in the army. It turns out hearty food. Another advantage, but already an economic one: barley will always be an inexpensive cereal.
But at the same time, there are also disadvantages. For example, I rarely eat pearl barley, I don't really like it - it's coarse grits. And I cannot say that it has any great advantages over buckwheat and rice. Eating without barley with enough rice, buckwheat is good nutrition. For a soldier here, I would rather be glad.
Leonid IVASHOV, President of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems:
I haven't eaten barley for a long time … I need a domestic, high-quality, high-calorie product. In Soviet times, an entire institute was engaged in the study of the soldier's menu. We proceeded from the fact that it was tasty, nutritious and that it could be kept in reserve not only for the active composition of the army, but also for the mobilization one.
Oleg TERESHKIN, veteran of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kazan:
What kind of army is this if its fighting efficiency depends on food?
Boris SMAGORINSKY, Head of the Public Council of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Volgograd Region:
Only a deliciously cooked piece of pork or beef. And the defenders will eat well, and we will raise animal husbandry.
Or maybe this is not a concern at all for a more tasty and nutritious diet of the military. And yet another attempt to leave a considerable part of budgetary military money in the pockets of the Russian generals who have long forgotten both millet and barley.
This no longer seems like strange quibbles about the reform of the Russian army after it began to use outsourcing services. Moreover, hired civilian workers often work only on paper and receive their wages on paper. In fact, the money confidently flows into the accounts of the generals' ranks, and all the work of cleaning the premises, planting vegetables and unloading cars is done by the same conscripts. Incidentally, they also manage to build dachas for the same generals on "outsourcing" finances.
