Abstract:

The paper examines the consumption of basic food products by the Russian population in the context of ensuring food security. Sufficient food consumption by the population is the ultimate goal of ensuring food security. The initial stage of the study is an assessment of changes in the volume of basic food products consumption by Russian households. As a result of this stage, it was determined that for one part of food groups there is a negative trend of decreasing consumption, and for the other a positive trend of growth. Then, a comparison of consumption volumes of urban and rural households was made. It was revealed that there was a large disparity in the consumption of rural and urban households at the beginning of the study period. On the positive side, these imbalances were either completely eliminated or minimized by the end of the study period. Then the actual consumption was compared with the standard consumption and it was found that there is a significant under-consumption of some food products and excess of the standard consumption of others. Comparing the cost of purchasing food products of plant and animal origin allowed to determine a significant difference in their size for rural and urban households. In addition, the rural population is forced to give preference to less expensive and high-quality food products with a low degree of processing. A comparative analysis of the prices at which food was purchased by urban and rural households made it possible to identify macroeconomic and climatic factors as the main reasons for their high volatility. A comparison of the prices paid for food by urban and rural households determined lower prices for the majority of food products purchased by the rural population. The overall result of this work was the conclusion that the main reason for the low level of satisfaction of food needs by the population of the country is their low income.