| OCR Text |
Show I Friday, Mar.i l, 20 THE HERALD, Prove, Utah, - Page B7 Lmig linos dtaily for tfir food seairee Moscow Food plentiful in private markets, but much high By STEVE RAYMER National Geographic Fw AJ Ne tieaUrt MOSCOW Long lines - snake down Gorky Street, a bustling thoroughfare leading to Red Square and the Kremlin, as Muscovites wait silently for hours to buy enough food to see them through another few days of a cold, gray mter. Nearby on Pushkin Square, the world's Largest McDonald's is about to open its doors to a predicted 15,(W0 customers a day. The hamburgers and french fries will be like fast food elsewhere in the world, but no one expects them to dent Moscow's worst food crisis since World War U. Sugar is rationed at 4.4 pounds per adult monthly and stores limit customers to about two pounds of meat and a pound each of cheese, butler and sausage. Loflee, caviar and wine disappeared from the nearly empty shelves of state-ru- n shops long ago, and now even tea as Russian as the long winter is hard to find. "We are not starving here," a Moscow journalist told National Geographic with some pride after buying an pound Hungarian turkey far his New Year's dinner. But it is for sure, the good old times of caviar are gone." From Moscow to Vladivostok, the Soviet Union is struggling to feed itself. Prime Minister Nikolai I. Ryzhkov recently told the Soviet parliament that 70 percent of the country is suffering from serious food shortages. While pi-- - yy m i ui one predicts famine. malnutrition is a growing danger. "There will be places where workers cannot do their jobs because their diets are deficient," says economist Aiexei Kumlsin of Moscow's Institute of the US. A., and Canada. Disillusioned with President MJt-ha- il S. Gorbachev's efforts to rebuild the Soviet economy, consumers have resorted to panic-buyinEconomists also blame the empty shelves on habitually low agricultural output, inflation and racketeering in the railroad and trucking industries. Spoilage and a primitive road network result in a loss of at Least 25 percent of the grain crop before it reaches market an amount equal to the (4 billion Moscow spent on grain imports in 1&8. At the Yaroslav Street Station here, a heavily laden woman boarding the Express for the 2,000-mil- e trip to Krasnoyarsk shrugged at her parcels of cheese, sausage, tea and soap. "There is nothing in Siberia," she said, "only perestroika," using the Russian catchall phrase for nearly Trans-Siberia- every V n economic and political change sweeping the country. In Vladivostok, on the Pacific coast, sugar, tea, soap and laundry detergent are rationed, while in Novosibirsk, in central Siberia, meat and sugar are sold only with a ration card. "For a holiday like New Year's," says Novosibirsk housewife Yana Stepanova, "we'll go to the private market, beet is three times as expensive there, but easier to get." A young government official in Vladivostok says there is a noticea. ble difference between food availa-ble today and last year. He blames local authorities for trying "to build popular resentment toward a free market economy" by creating artificial shortages. Photos courtesy National Geographic Russians have been taught that inexpensive food, despite the long Butchers in a private market in Novosibirsk, in central Siberia, lines and frequent shortages, is a birthright. Last year, the Soviet present their skinned rabbits with the feet intact, proof that they Union spent 60 billion rubles (about aren't selling cats. $97 billion at the official exchange rate) to subsidize food prices. That 3 a i 4 & food store on Moscow's Gorky Street. Officially, Shoppers crowd the meat counter of a state-ru- n only sugar is rationed in Moscow, but with the city facing its worst food crisis since World War II, most stores limit customers to about two pounds of meat. is almost budget. IS percent of the state but at prices up to 10 times higher than in state stores. Melons from For example, the state pays Central Asia, always rare in the about $3.20 for a pound of beef and winter, cost as much as a week's sells it for half of that. But the wait pay, while oranges from the Caucais likely to run more than a hour sus sell for the equivalent of $2 uui uig iiit evening i uah. each. To reassure the restive nation But in a country where long lines that Gorbachev's reforms are work- are part of the landscape, the mening, Moscow is importing huge tality of the ration coupon is hard amounts of food this winter, including 500,000 tons of potatoes from Poland and East Germany. The bill last Soviet Union's year was nearly $8 billion. But in a country where too many rubles are chasing too few goods, consumers are increasingly turning to private and cooperative markets to put food on their tables. In Novosibirsk's private farmers' market, beef, veal, mutton, chicken and rabbit are readily available food-impo- rt k to escape. In the village of on the Kolyma River in northeast Siberia, the mayor's secretary took a visiting American aside. "Tell me," she asked, "What is on the ration card in Washington?" Pok-hods- Not keeping careful records is a common BULLETIN BOARD 88th Birthday Open House Clifford H. Crandall His children invite family and friends to join them in honor ing him Saturday, March 3. 1S90 from 3-- 5 p.m. at the Sphngville 2nd Ward LDS Chapel, 451 S financial Main. Lots of cracks exist in U.S. health Health care in the United States is a haphazard system that works most of the time, but there are a lot of cracks in the system. Some of tne cracks: Many people can't get insurance because they work in professions he insurance industry deems too risky, such as mining, hazardous chemicals and explosives. Part-timemployees are often uninsured or underinsured. Also deemed uninsurable are those with high-ris- k disabilities such as AIDS. Barbara Rowe, extension family resource management specialist in the Utah State University College of Family life, said that at any point 0 million in the year there are Americans who are uninsured. More than half of these are children under age 18 and women. About 26 percent of all women of g age are uninsured. Of y this group, minorities are represented. Probably just as serious a problem are the underinsured, Rowe isaid. Many of these are families n with handicapped children or with a disability or chronic illness. ; Even what normally would seem to be adequate insurance runs out i illnesses. Special during long-ter; support services such as long-terphysical therapy and wheel chairs .and other appliances often are not ' covered. e 33-4- child-bearin- dispro-portionali- chil-dre- m Rowe care said part of the coverage for these people can come from Medicare and Medicaid-program- s instituted in the 1960s. Eligibility for Medicaid varies from state to state and even from person to person, but you generally must be at a very low income level to receive it. One of the more recent solutions to cover the tininsurables has been forming "high-ris- k pools." Rowe said 10 states have legislation that requires the state's health insurance companies to form these high-ris- k pools to share the cost of underwriting people usually considered uninsurable. She said specifics vary from state to state, but in general they offer a specified maximum benefit (in Mortana $100,000; in Connecticut $1 million). There is also a maximum rate the insurance company can charge. The goal is to make coverage relatively affordable. As yet there is no consensus on how states will finance deficits in this program. Some plan to fund the losses through general state revenues, while others factor it into the costs of doing business. That is, insurance providers and insurance consumers pay for the program. Rowe said the public and government sentiment changes from year to year, wavering between national health insurance and shifting the burden to the private sector. School of Midwifery will hold an Introduction of Midwifery workshop Monday afternoons from 5 p.m. starting March 5. Dianne Bjarnson, director of the Utah School of Midwifery and president of the Utah Midwives' Association will teach the workshop at her home, 1243 E. 650 North, Pleasant Grove. The workshop will include instruction on birth assisting, vital signs, record keeping, terminology, normal labor and delivery, complications, and diet, herbs, and nutritional supplements for expectant 2-- SATURDAY, MARCH 3 7 TO 8 A.M. 30 OFF ALL REGULAR-PRICEFABRICS AND PATTERNS D 8 TO 9 A.M. OFF ALL REGULAR-PRICEFABRICS AND PATTERNS 25 D 9 TO 10 A.M. OFF ALL REGULAR-PRICEFABRICS AND PATTERNS 20 10 A.M. TO 6 P.M. U5 OFF ALL REGULAR-PRICE- D D FABRICS AND PATTERNS Ml. LIMIT 3 PATTERN'S WITH FABRIC PURCHASE Midwifery workshops set ' The Utah THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE BEST SAVINGS discount slip as you enter the store to use anytime Saturday, March 3. Discount good for one purchase and may not be combined with any other offer. Present discount slip at cash regifir when checking out. You'll receive a mothers. The workshop is open to mothers and grandmothers who want to gain more understanding of the birth process and how to deliver a baby in an emergency situation as well as those wishing to start midwifery training. The Utah School of Midwifery is dedicated to providing education and training in the art of traditional, holistic midwifery. For more information about the workshop contact Dianne Bjarnson at For classes in Salt Lake contact Carrie Abbott at ALL BANDED REMNANTS Choose from a special collection of fabrics IRC$ U V OFF U WW and colors in a large assortment of lengths. BANDED PRICE iV 1 uw 5. Raquel Johnson, daughter of Scott and Virginia Johnson, will marry Don Robert Stoneman, son of Fred A. and Arlene Stoneman, Spanish Fork, Saturday, March 3. A reception will honor the couple at Chillon Rethat evening, 710 E. Center, Spanception Center, ish Fork. The event is open to all friends and relatives. The couple will make their home in Spanish Fork. Grandparents of the bride are Mr. and Mrs. Grant Workman, Salt Lake City. Grandmother of the bridegroom is Alice Fox, Eureka. sewing machines, notions, craft notions, batting and fiberfill All from 7 a.m to 6 p.m. 15 V VxC OFF A. Raquel Johnson )n 785-927- 2. Johnson, Stoneman Don Robert Stoneman V 1335 South State Street STORE HOURS: Mon-Fr- i 9AM-9P- Orem Sat 9AM-7P- 224-327- 4 Closed Sun I N |
