Hunger Ban

From the BBC:
"Russia hits West with food import ban in sanctions row"

Russia is imposing a "full embargo" on food imports from the EU, US and some other Western countries, in response to sanctions over Ukraine. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said it would include fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and dairy imports. Australia, Canada and Norway are also affected. Russia is also banning Ukrainian airlines from transit across its territory, he said in televised comments to the government. Furthermore, the Russian government is considering banning transit flights for EU and US airlines in retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine, he said. EU food exports to Russia last year were worth 11.8bn euros (£9bn; $15.8bn) while US food exports to Russia were worth 972m euros (£772m; $1.3bn).  Russia was the EU's second-biggest market for food exports (10% of total), after the US (13%). The European Commission said the Russian embargo was "clearly politically motivated". It is considering how to respond. Western governments accuse the Kremlin of fomenting the unrest in eastern Ukraine by supplying weapons and expertise to the pro-Russian separatists.  The crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 last month, killing 298 people, exacerbated tensions between the West and Russia, as the separatists in eastern Ukraine were widely blamed. It is strongly suspected that a Russian missile system was used to down the jet. Dutch investigators have suspended work at the crash site, saying it is too dangerous, and Ukrainian forces battling the rebels in the area say their ceasefire has now ended. Mr Medvedev ordered the agriculture ministry and producer organisations to find ways to boost Russian farm output in order to prevent price rises for consumers.  Western exports of baby food to Russia are not on the sanctions list. Western pet food is not banned either, and Russians are not barred from buying Western food abroad, within customs limits. The Russian authorities say they are confident the supermarket shelves will not be left empty - they are searching for alternative suppliers in South America, Turkey and China.

But filling the gap will not be easy, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg reports from Moscow. It is estimated that in big cities, like Moscow, more than 60% of food in the shops is imported.   Researchers at Capital Economics say "far and away the most vulnerable to the Russian sanctions is Lithuania, where exports of the banned products to Russia are equivalent to 2.5% of GDP". But they add that "the biggest loser from the import ban looks set to be Russia".

^ I agree that the only real people that will loose from this ban are the Russian economy and the Russian people. Even during Soviet times (when Moscow ruled a larger area and was officially self-sufficient) they imported grain and other food stuffs from the US and Western countries and they still had rationing and large lines everywhere. Today Russia wants to rush legislation to make everything Russian (ie banking system, agriculture, tourism, industry, etc.) While that sounds great (like "Buy American" or "Buy Local") you have to have the infrastructure and money to do it beforehand and Russia doesn't right now. I found the picture above on Facebook and it has Putin at the Sochi Winter Olympics. The phrase below wasn't something he actually said, but the picture portrays the current Russia-West relations.The last time I lived in Russia I tried to live like an ordinary Russian (which was very difficult.) Every now and then I needed a break and rather than buying only Russian food, etc I would go to the real, Western supermarket (where you could touch items) and buy foods from Europe - mostly Germany. They cost a lot more then the Russian item, but sometimes I needed a break from generic Russian Cola or Russian toilet paper made out of saw-dust. This ban will only force the Russians back in time to the days of scarcity and poverty while the West will find new markets for their items. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28687172