Wegren S. Does Russia have a food safety crisis? // The Russian Peasant Studies. 2026. V.11. №3. P. 148-170.

EDN: JQVJJM

Annotation

Unsafe food is a global problem and occurs in every country to varying degrees. This article suggests a policy process framework to understand the food safety problem in Russia. At first glance Russia does not appear to have a food safety crisis because it is not similar to developing countries or China. Most of Russia’s food is safe for public consumption. And yet, the persistence of falsified and adulterated food, phony production facilities, and the scope of bad actor activity might be termed a crisis because these incidents continue to exist despite government efforts to eradicate those problems. In particular, the scope and persistence of bad actor activity have to be troubling considering the considerable legal, administrative, and manpower resources that have been invested in food safety. In short, it might be argued that Russia has a crisis because the regulatory state is not fulfilling policy goals. The purpose of this article is to work through the food safety crisis question in Russia. The applied policy process approach entails four steps: goal setting, policy design, allocation of resources, and implementation. The process-oriented framework reveals successes and shortcomings in Russia’s food safety policy. On the positive side, policy adjustments have led to a decline in food counterfeiting and falsification. At the same time, the bad actor problem persists. Shortcomings in each step of the policy process are identified and discussed. 

Keywords

Food security, food insecurity, regulatory state, agricultural production, food safety, policy process.  

About the author

Stephen Wegren, Distinguished University Professor, Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas (USA). 3300 University Blvd., Carr-Collins Hall, Dallas, TX 75275–0117.
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