Investigation of food supply in the Vologda region

One of the most important components of economic security of any state is food security, because the need for a utilitarian means of subsistence, such as food, clothing, and shelter is constant and these needs must be trivial, reliable, stable and smooth. This is considerations of social stability and security that make all developed countries to regulate the situation on the food market, supporting the buyers’ purchasing power of food and providing support to their agricultural producers.

The problem of ensuring food security in Russia needs to be solved objectively, not only nationally but also at the regional level, due to significant differences between food pro- duction and demand for it on the territory of Russia, distinguished by the diversity of natural and climatic conditions, uneven placement of industrial and economic capacity, social infrastructure, features of consumer preferences and income of the population. Thus, the study of characteristics of production and consumption of food in the individual territories will build up an individual concept of food security in the regions producing and consuming food. It will also allow creating a strategy of increase food security, which, addressing the goals and objectives of food availability, will also be a part of a national strategy, maximizing competitive advantages in the region.

The concept of a healthy diet involves the quality, safety, and physical and economic accessibility of food. Providing the region's population with food of sufficient quantity and variety is a problem that includes a range of issues of food production, conjunctures of global, national and regional markets, competitiveness and ability to pay of the region's population, income level and population’s structure of nutrition, social state and local governments policy.

The vast majority of food security issues researchers highlight the need for physical and economic access of population to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet its nutritional requirements of specified quantity and quality and enable it to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.

From this definition it follows that the problem of food supply has at least two aspects. The first is the physical accessibility of food for all segments of the population throughout the region, regardless of residents’ place. This implies an uninterrupted flow of food from the place of production to end-users. Physical accessibility means addressing the complex of strategic challenges, primarily with the organization of sufficient food production in the region and its unhindered movement within the country and between countries. Fundamentally important aspect of this problem is the region’s capacity to meet the needs for basic food products at the expense of domestic production (tab. 1).

The Vologda region’s enterprises produce a wide range of basic foodstuffs. The following positive trends should be noted: sustainable production of meat and meat products, sausages, confectionery and dairy products, canned food, linseed oil and product preservation. Given that the production of agricultural raw materials is substantially behind in terms of growth, and in some areas there is a reduction in output (e. g., cattle and pigs meat), it becomes evident the need for deeper processing of available raw materials and a decline in the export of raw materials outside the region that will assist increase the region’s food security.

However, over the period under study, average consumption of basic foodstuffs in the Vologda region has undergone significant change, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Historically, meat, milk, fish, vegetables and fruits have been and remain the basic and essential food. In their energy and nutritional value they are significantly superior to other types of food, providing the body essential trace elements and vitamins. And these food groups are “at risk”

Table 1. Production of basic food at enterprises of the Vologda region, in % to the previous period*

Type of food	Years
	1995	2000	2005	2006	2007	2008
Bread and bread products	84.0	92.4	98.0	94.4	98.8	96.1
Pasta	46.0	72.8	75.6	51.6	87.3	110.2
Vegetables and melons	143.0	97.5	109.0	100	100	100
Potatoes	218.0	79.0	129.0	100	97.1	105.9
Meat and meat products	95.0	103.0	97.3	103.9	98.1	101.9
Sausages	84.0	115.6	105.6	108.3	107.5	101.5
Whole milk products	92.0	109.6	104.1	103.7	104.0	96.0
Butter	8.0	98.3	101.2	111.6	95.5	104.2
Cheese and curd	68.0	101.4	131.3	99.3	98.8	87.6
Fish catch		111.4	95.8	87.2	100	58.7
Vegetable, flaxseed oil	-	-	-	-	3.5 times	116.4
Confectionery	74.0	143.5	112.4	98.6	100.1	103.8

* The data presented describe the overall food production in the enterprises of the region, without allocating a share of products manufactured from imported raw materials.

Table 2. The level of per capita consumption of basic foodstuffs in the Vologda region, kg/year (based on sample survey of households)

Type of food	Years
	1991	1995	2000	2005	2006	2007	2008
Bread and cereal products	114	106	116	128	120	114	115
Potatoes	97	122	125	98	95	95	93
Vegetables and melons	69	77	89	99	102	105	103
Berries and Fruits	31	26	26	53	61	67	72
Meat and meat products	63	53	49	70	70	71	75
Milk and milk products	404	288	213	272	278	273	270
Eggs, pcs.	228	180	220	252	259	263	259
Fish and fish products	14	10	14	21	19	21	22
Sugar and confectionery products	34	34	34	49	45	43	42
Nutritional value, g / day
- protein		63	64	79	78	77	79
including animal protein			32	44	44	44	46
- fats		78	87	111	111	110	112
- carbohydrates		369	392	452	427	414	411
Caloric value, kcal. day	2731	2440	2615	3136	3025	2966	2978
including products of animal origin, in % of total energy value	35.0	30.5	24.7	25.5	26.5	27.1	27.9

Table 3. Consumption of basic foodstuffs in% of norm, by 1 consumer per year (based on sample survey of households)

Type of food Norm Years 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 Bread and cereal products 110 100.9 96.4 105.5 116.4 109.1 103.6 104.5 Potatoes 118 82.2 103.4 105.9 83.1 80.5 80.5 78.8 Vegetables and melons 139 48.2 55.4 64.0 71.2 73.4 75.5 74.1 Meat and meat products 81 81.5 65.4 60.5 86.4 86.4 87.7 92.6 Milk and milk products 392 101.5 73.5 54.3 69.4 70.9 69.6 68.9 Eggs, pcs. 292 74.7 61.6 75.3 86.3 88.7 90.1 88.7 Fish and fish products 25 60 40 56.0 84.0 76.0 84.0 88.0 Sugar and confectionery products 41 85.4 82.2 82.9 119.5 109.8 104.9 102.4 because their consumption is either at the level of biologically necessary standards or significantly lower, which confirms the steady decline in the share of energy value of diet, which is made up for products of animal origin (tab. 2).

Currently, the region’s average citizen consumes (with respect to the biological norm), about 90% of meat, slightly less than 70% of milk and dairy products, about 80 – 90% of the demand for fish and fishery products (tab. 3). There is excess in the consumption of bread and cereal products, i.e. those kinds of food, which remain the most accessible to the low-income groups. Consumption of eggs, despite the poultry growth in the Vologda region remains at 10 – 15% below the physiological norm. Comparison of food consumption per capita in the Vologda region and the NorthWest federal district confirms this trend. The population of the region where agriculture has traditionally specialized in animal products consumes 8% less milk and dairy products than the average in the North-West region, however even in the 1990s this figure was 4% higher than the average for the District.

The consumption of meat only in the last three years exceeded the average, primarily due to growth in production and consumption of poultry meat. The region’s residents consume less fruits and berries. The level of vegetables

Table 4. The level of per capita consumption of basic foodstuffs in the Vologda region, kg/year (by the balance of food resources)

Type of food	Years
	1991	1995	2000	2005	2006	2007	2008
Bread and cereal products	140	132	118	128	125	125	126
Potatoes	116	217	194	144	139	138	121
Vegetables and melons	64	75	120	134	139	173	117
Meat and meat products	71	57	44	55	58	62	66
Milk and milk products	369	264	235	229	239	237	245
Eggs, pcs.	310	257	229	300	307	297	288
Fish and fish products	15.4	10	9	13	13.1	13.7	14.5
Sugar and confectionery products	36	32	33	36	38	39	42

Table 5. Consumption of basic food products

(in % of the norm, for 1 consumer per year; by the balance of food resources)

Type of food Norm Years 1991 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 Bread and cereal products 110 120 107 116 113 114 115 120 Potatoes 118 184 164 122 118 117 103 184 Vegetables and melons 139 54 86 96 100 124 84 54 Meat and meat products 81 70 54 68 72 77 81 70 Milk and milk products 392 67 60 58 61 60 63 67 Eggs, pcs. 292 88 78 103 105 102 99 88 Fish and fish products 25 40 36 52 52 55 58 40 Sugar and confectionery products 41 78 81 88 93 95 102 78 consumption is slightly higher than the average for the North-West federal district, but it is achieved mainly through field vegetables of own production.

Even lower level of consumption of basic foods is recorded on the basis of food balance sheet. When the above trends are saved, the indicators of the region’s population consumption of basic foods are much lower (tab. 4, 5) . Thus, amid a general decline in consumption of bread and bakery products during the analyzed period, exceeding the standards is consistently maintained at 15 – 20%, consumption of vegetables varies greatly by periods, with periods of underconsumption of this group are practically the same (with some lag) with the periods of real incomes reduction.

Particularly visible are the differences in a group of products that provide the body's need for animal protein as main construction material. Thus, in contrast to the results of a sample survey of households, according to the balance of food resources, the inhabitants of the Vologda region consume meat less than 80% of normal, of fish and fish products 40%, etc., that show a significant upward bias of actual consumption basic food products on the basis of the results of sociological research.

However, the physical accessibility of food is necessary but not sufficient condition for food security. The main types of food (constituting a basic food basket at least), must be economically accessible to all categories of the population within a physiologically based nutritional standards. This ensures a proportional correspondence between the per capita cash income and the cost of the food basket. Cash income includes wages, pensions, allowances and other social transfers, property income from interest on deposits, securities, income from entrepreneurial activities, grants, insurance reimbursement and other income (including

Table 6. Purchasing power per capita cash income, kg/month

Type of food 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 Beef 1 cat. 35.9 38.6 56.6 67.6 73.6 72 Sausages, wieners 36.0 37.5 60.4 76.4 87.4 85 Smoked and cooked sausages 20.7 24.2 41.5 53.4 60.5 58 Butter 24.8 28.4 59.0 72.5 72.8 58 Vegetable oil 62.9 86.9 159.4 215.0 228.1 163 Margarine 48.2 58.0 145.0 186.1 205.1 173 Milk, l 304.2 324.3 519.6 639.6 653.3 570 Sour cream 52.4 67.7 120.3 152.6 162.6 145 Cheese 22.6 25.3 47.0 61.1 61.7 55 Eggs, pieces 1306 1400 2595 3824 3869 3516 Granulated sugar 129.9 162.3 326.9 324.1 472.4 492 White bread, extra 150.2 167.5 250.3 298.1 310.5 268 Rye bread 269.0 270.4 373.9 453.9 468.4 407 Pasta products 102.2 123.0 269.4 367.5 386.1 306 Rice 107.9 143.7 308.0 384.3 354.4 299 Potatoes 361.0 395.3 599.1 714.4 793.7 714 Fresh cabbage 262.1 376.6 467.9 664.1 573.2 549 Apples 102.4 149.6 174.2 198.2 223.6 205 Vodka, l 21.2 25.6 43.6 55.4 60.4 62 For public expenditure on food,% 51.6 49.1 40.3 38.5 37.0 37.1 income from shady activities: salaries, concealed from taxation, acquisition of real estate and consumer durables, the opening of deposit accounts in the bank, etc.).

Analyzing the change in the purchasing power of the Vologda region’s inhabitants, which reflects the maximum amount of purchases of certain types of food on average per capita monthly income, we should note the steady trend of growth, both in average and different socio-economic groups (tab. 6) .

During the monitoring period, it increased on staple foods in 2 – 2.5 times, which increases the affordability of food for various socio-economic groups. So, if in 1995 the average resident of the region could buy about 36 kg of beef, or 304 liters of milk, or 52 kg of sour cream a month, then by 2008 the average per capita income can allow buying 74 kg of meat, or 162 kg of sour cream, or 658 liters of milk. This trend confirms the decline in the share of consumer spending on food.

However, there is deepening of households’ differentiation by level of welfare. Differentiation of the population by income is objectively determined by the ratio of income of different socio-demographic groups and is the result of the combined effect of economic, social and geographical factors. Economic disparities of populations depends not only on income inequality, but different income disparities and differences in consumption and demographic characteristics of households (family size and composition, demographic burden on the working-age population, the number of pensioners, the disabled, etc.).

The distribution of socio-economic groups in terms of cash income is characterized by their division in 20% groups (tab. 7) and the magnitude of per capita cash income (tab. 8) .

During the monitoring period, the differentiation of incomes in society has increased significantly. Thus, the share of the poorest groups (income level is less than 7 thousand rubles a month per person) which is about 40% of the region’s inhabitants accounts for less than 6% of total income, while the share of 15% best provided for there is more than 45% of income.

Table 7. Distribution of the total income of the population, %

Indicator	Years
	2000	2005	2006	2007	2008
Cash income, total	100	100	100	100	100
including 20 per cent population groups: – first (with the lowest income)	7.2	6.5	6.1	5.9	6.1
– second	30.3	11.3	10.9	10.7	10.9
– third	26.3	16.1	15.8	15.6	15.7
– fourth	15.8	23.0	22.9	22.9	22.9
– fifth (with highest income)	20.4	43.1	44.3	44.9	44.4
Funds coefficient (the coefficient of income differentials), times	8.9	11.0	12.2	12.9	12.4
The Gini coefficient (index of income concentration)	0.358	0.364	0.378	0.386	0.380

Table 8. Distribution of population by per capita cash income, %

Indicator	Years
	2001	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
The entire population	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
including those with average cash income per month, rubles: - up to 1000.0	8.9	2.8	1.7	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.1
– 1000.1 – 3000.0	59.0	37.2	29.3	20.7	12.2	7.8	4.9
– 3000.1 – 5000.0	22.5	29.8	29.2	27.8	22.1	16.6	13.1
– 5000.1 – 7000.0	6.4	14.9	17.4	19.6	19.5	16.9	15.3
– 7000.1 – 9000.0	2.0	7.3	9.5	12.0	14.1	14.0	13.8
– 9000.1 – 11000.0	0.7	3.6	5.2	7.2	9.7	10.8	11.4
– 11000.1 – 13000.0	0.3	1.9	3.0	4.3	6.6	8.1	9.0
– 13000.1 – 15000.0	0.1	1.0	1.7	2.7	4.4	6.0	7.0
– 15000.1 – 17000.0	0.1	0.6	1.1	1.6	3.1	4.5	5.4
– 17000.1 – 19000.0	0.0	0.4	0.6	1.1	2.2	3.4	4.2
Purchasing power per capita cash income (sets of living-wage)	2.25	2.18	2.32	2.27	2.51	2.70	2.58

In 2008, the poorest consumers spent on food about 1,692 rubles per month for 1 person. Over 25% of these costs were allocated to the purchase of bread and bakery products, the same amount – for the purchase of meat and meat products, about 12% on the purchase of vegetables, 11% – milk and milk products, slightly more than 5% of budget is spent for fruits and berries, even fewer (4%) for the purchase of fish and fish products. The average cash income in this group did not exceed the level of 3,127 rubles per month.

It is interesting that contrary to popular belief the majority of poor people (about 63%) live in cities, and the vast majority of them (60.2%) are of working age, the proportion of retirees is less than 12%, but over the past three years there is a trend of its increase. Persistently high (27 – 28%) remains the proportion of children living in low-income families. Residents of region from the 10% group of the most wellto-do spend on food purchases on average about 4,083 rubles a month per household member. Structure of consumption differs significantly from the given above: the share of meat and meat products accounts for about 27% of the costs, more than 11% is spent for the purchase of fruits and berries, milk and dairy products account for about 14% of the diet, more than 6% are fish and fish products. It should be noted that the volume of consumption does not include food consumed outside the home (in catering, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, etc.). Average cash income in the group, according to official statistics, in 2008 amounted to 33,736 rubles per month.

Significant differences are identified in food consumption in urban and rural house-

Table 9. Consumption of basic foodstuffs in % of the norm in urban and rural households, for 1 consumer per year (based on sample survey of households)

Type of food Years 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 Urban households Bread and bread products 72.7 83.6 93.6 99.1 94.5 89.1 89.1 Potatoes 64.4 89.8 99.2 66.9 65.3 64.4 60.2 Vegetables and melons 50.4 57.6 61.9 66.9 68.3 70.5 68.3 Meat and meat products 85.2 64.2 70.4 93.9 92.6 92.5 96.3 Milk and milk products 107.1 67.9 57.4 71.7 72.4 71.4 69.9 Eggs, pcs. 72.9 68.5 78.4 85.2 85.2 84.6 83.6 Fish and fish products 60.0 48.0 56.0 72.0 68.0 72.0 76.0 Sugar and confectionery products 87.8 78.0 78.0 107.3 95.1 97.7 95.1 Rural households Bread and cereal products 138.2 121.8 129.1 152.7 139.1 134.5 136.4 Potatoes 98.3 131.4 121.2 116.1 112.7 113.6 117.8 Vegetables and melons 41.7 50.4 67.6 79.9 82.7 86.3 85.6 Meat and meat products 76.5 66.7 112.0 70.4 75.3 79.0 85.2 Milk and milk products 104.1 83.6 48.1 64.5 67.6 66.3 66.6 Eggs, pcs. 79.1 46.9 69.2 88.4 95.5 101.7 99.0 Fish and fish products 56.0 28.0 60.0 100 96.0 108 112 Sugar and confectionery products 87.8 90.2 95.1 143.9 136.6 121.9 119.5 holds (tab. 9). Given the lack of information on food consumption in households on the basis of food balance sheet, the data from a sample survey of households in urban and rural areas is used. Consumption of the urban population is stable below the biologically-based rules, for which there are two main reasons. First, the calculations take into account only food consumed at home, while for the city residents it is characteristic a wider use of public catering. Secondly, there is a more pronounced differentiation of the various income groups, which leads to an underestimation of individual indicators.

Income growth in socially well provided groups affects the “underconsumption” of bread, potatoes, and vegetables, but their share in the number of inhabitants of the region is too small for a similar effect on the growth of consumption of biologically valuable food items: meat, milk, fish, etc. Incomes of low-income citizens, despite the steady growth of their purchasing power, do not allow acquiring these products within the biologically-based standards.

In rural households one can also observe underconsumption of main products: meat, milk, eggs, vegetables and fruits. But this trend is directly linked to the economic availability of food, as well as in rural areas the social stratification of the population is traditionally weaker. There is a tendency of excess consumption of inexpensive products: bread and potatoes. A higher percentage of availability of fish and fishery products is formed due to selfsufficiency of the population. Similar situation is with the consumption of fruits and vegetables, which has a negative impact on the diet diversity and food value.

If we consider the outflow of the working population from rural areas, increase the proportion of the retirement age population, it becomes apparent the prospective decline of food production in individual households, which would exacerbate the current trend and increase the gap between different social groups in the village.

Thus, the study of trends in food consumption in the Vologda region confirmed that, despite the steady growth of average incomes in the region, the main issues of regional food security – physical and economic access to food – remains unresolved. Physical accessibility which is due to the availability of food, provided mainly through food imports from abroad, economic ties with other regions are developing not quickly enough, the production of own agricultural raw materials is constrained by low production efficiency and sustainable reduction in the working age population.

Analysis of the population’s purchasing power has shown that economic access to food remains substantially below the level of 1990; in addition, high level of income differentiation in society distorts the statistics not reflecting the actual features of consumption in certain socio-economic groups of the population.