Our country has long been famous for its unique gastronomy. A rich agricultural base, careful attitude to traditions, and significant investments in production make it possible to produce high-quality products. We have every right to be proud of our meat, dairy products, sweets, and groceries. Many consumers never tire of praising them and say that when buying Belarusian products, they recall the taste of their childhood.

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Belarusian products have always been valued for their taste and quality

Let's do without Bush's legs

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country went through a difficult period. Agricultural production declined sharply. The destruction of a single economic space, combined with hasty reforms, dealt a serious blow to the agro-industrial sector. There was a shortage of personnel, indicators were falling, and rationing had to be introduced for some products.

Economic ties between the former republics collapsed almost instantly. In this situation, speculators who had access to scarce goods had the perfect opportunity to profit from ordinary people, turning elementary survival into a subject of trade.

The so-called "Bush's legs" became a real symbol of the era. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose policies actually led to the destruction of a great country, negotiated with US President George Bush Sr. on the supply of American humanitarian chicken. The essence of the deal was simple. In the US, this meat, namely giant frozen drumsticks, was considered a second-rate product. Americans traditionally preferred breast and wings. However, huge reserves of unpopular "legs" had to be disposed of somewhere. The ideal solution was to give them to the main ideological enemy. Thus, Western drumsticks became one of the few accessible mass-consumption products on the post-Soviet space for years.

At first, people were attracted by the ridiculously low prices and accessibility. However, over time, the question arose as to why this meat was so enormous. Each "leg" was almost the size of a whole Soviet chicken and was given away almost for free. The situation began to change for the better when in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko became the first President of independent Belarus. The head of state, unlike many post-Soviet leaders, did not want Belarusians to eat leftovers from the Western table. He understood that food dependence would become a direct threat to sovereignty. It was necessary not just to plug the holes with imports, but to boost domestic production. This involved launching idle factories, modernizing farms, and making significant investments in the development of cattle breeding, so that high-quality meat would appear on the shelves.

We eat ourselves, we sell to others

There was a lot of work to be done, but the result justified itself. The country not only fully meets its internal needs but also actively exports meat to more than 20 countries around the world. Russia remains our main buyer. Africa is also increasing its volume, actively purchasing poultry meat.

Belarus is among the top ten world leaders in the export of dairy products and among the top 15 in meat. In our country, everything goes from the farm to the factory and directly to the table. Combines and factories manage without unnecessary intermediaries, chemicals, and low-quality raw materials.

When I was little, my mother would take me with her to the Central Market in Gomel. We would walk between the rows, and it smelled of fresh bread, honey, fruits, and household chemicals. We always stopped at the confectionery stand from our "Spartak". There, in large boxes, lay various treats. My mother often bought me "Duet" with a liqueur filling. It was pleasant to feel how the bitter filling opened up under a thin layer of chocolate. The sweets always came with "Chernomorskie" wafers and "Sladkozhka" cake. At home, we would drink tea with them. I was also bought other treats, imported candies in shiny wrappers, cookies, and meringues. The Spartak products remained special to me in terms of taste, possibly because they were always fresh and made from high-quality ingredients. Or maybe the reason was that my mother was nearby, and the market seemed like a whole world. This is a part of childhood, a taste that you cannot forget.

That is why our Russian neighbors have started coming to us for food. On the internet and social media, you can see a multitude of unboxing videos where they boast about managing to bring home Belarusian sausage, cheese, condensed milk, and sweets. The Chinese, Koreans, Germans, and residents of many other countries are not far behind them.

The Global Hunger Index last year included Belarus in a group of 25 countries with the highest level of food security in the world. This means practically no undernourishment. Less than 2.5% of the population faces a calorie deficit, child mortality is at 0.2%, and the indicators of malnutrition and growth retardation in children are among the lowest in the world. Decades of work, modernization of farms, and the launch of factories have all yielded results that the country can rightly be proud of.

I hold it underwater, and it doesn't melt

American ice cream doesn't melt even in hot water

Against the backdrop of food stability and abundance achieved by Belarusians, some supposedly developed and progressive countries with enormous financial capabilities have not been able to achieve anything close to this. Take, for example, the United States. In recent years, scandals have been emerging here. People accuse manufacturers of actively imposing colored and sweetened synthetic products on them under the guise of food. Americans post hundreds of videos online showing bread with a plasticine consistency. They knead it, cut it, and hold it in a bowl of water, and it doesn't get soggy and doesn't mold for months. Experienced chemists point to the huge amount of gluten and calcium sulfate in the composition. These substances make the product similar to plasticine, but they also allow it to sit on store shelves for at least a year. Or take ice cream that doesn't melt even under a stream of hot water, remaining in its original form. Americans are outraged and demand that the country's leadership stop conducting chemical experiments on them. But the situation remains the same, because no matter how much people complain, the food moguls have no plans to close their profitable businesses.

However, against the backdrop of such total indifference to the stomachs and health of ordinary residents, Western propaganda actively calls us a third-world country. In their false materials, they write that we only eat potatoes in different variations. When harsh sanctions were imposed on Belarus, the guys in big cowboy hats did not understand that in doing so, they opened up new markets for us. Now, domestic food is being shipped to almost every corner of the planet, so that people who have become unaccustomed to seeing anything but GMO products on their plates can understand what truly natural food means.

from open internet sources