Potemkina M.N., Kozhukhova E.L. “Garden beds near workshops”: Food self-sufficiency of metallurgical plants (1941–1945) // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №1. P. 89-112.

EDN: GQSMPZ

Annotation

The article considers the interaction between industrial and agricultural sectors during the Great Patriotic War. The authors focus on the ways in which factories developed subsidiary farms, organized decentralized harvesting, individual and collective gardening, and identify reasons and prerequisites for this type of management, its mechanisms, and the impact of such practices on food supply of the population. On the example of the Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), a large defense enterprise, the authors consider the organizational measures taken by its management to ensure the sustainable development of agricultural units, evaluating the decisions made and the efficiency of cooperation with the agricultural sector. The authors argue that the government failed to solve the problem of food security before the war. The country’s leadership demanded a transition to food self-sufficiency, so industrial enterprises had to organize independent food production by creating subsidiary farms. The lack of management mechanisms for such activities often led to low efficiency of subsidiary farms unable to have a significant impact on solving the workers’ nutrition problems.

Keywords

Economic history of the USSR, industrial enterprises, labor supply departments, subsidiary farms of enterprises, state farms, the Urals, food supply, decentralized food sources.  

About the authors

Marina N. Potemkina, DSc (History), Professor, Department of World History, Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University. Prosp. Lenina, 38, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, 455000, Russia; Leading Researcher, Center for Economic and Social History, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Prosp. Vernadskogo, 82, Moscow, 119571, Russia.
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Ekaterina L. Kozhukhova, PhD Student, Department of World History, Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University. Prosp. Lenina, 38, Magnitogorsk, 455000, Russia.
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