Soviet Pigs Living High on the Hog
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MOSCOW — It’s not their usual diet, but some pigs near the city of Perm have been fattening on caviar, according to Pravda, the official Communist Party newspaper.
It’s all part of a decision by managers of the Soviet fish industry to dispose of unsold goods to pig farmers, the newspaper explained.
As a result, freight cars full of canned herring, squid and salted sprats were first sent to feed hogs. Farm managers calculated that the cost of the canned fish amounted to the equivalent of about $1.03 a pound, more than they were getting for their fattened pigs.
In Perm, the managers of the fish industry first decided to allocate the unsold caviar to make sandwiches for sale in the city’s theaters at 1.3 rubles (about $1.50) apiece. When the sandwiches did not sell, Pravda said, they also were sold as pig food.
The newspaper sarcastically described a hypothetical “pastoral picture” of a pig having lunch, holding a caviar sandwich “in one elegant hoof.”
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