God Arises
Religion and Society
~ 396 ~
even more astounding when one compares them to
the proportion—just 2.8%—that private plots
constitute of all the farm land in the country.
The prices that privately-grown vegetables fetch in
Moscow central market make a mockery of the
communist ideal of free food for all. According to a
Reuter report from Moscow, dated December
28, 1984, tomatoes from Georgia were fetching 15
roubles a kilo on the Moscow market. Cauliflowers
from central Asia were going for 12 roubles a piece.
Muscovites complain about the high prices but it is
a question of paying them or going without
vegetables:
While Muscovites complain at the swarthy
‘millionaries’ from the South whose big
houses and flashy cars are legend, without
them fruit and vegetables would be hard to
find at all.
3
All this goes to show that the communist state has
failed to provide people with their basic needs of
life, let alone provide them free of cost. People have
to fall back on the private sector for elementary
provision. The private sector continues to outstrip
