Things have gotten so bad that Russians are switching from flower gardens to vegetables gardens
REUTERSRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presents US Secretary of State John Kerry with a gift of potatoes.Russia's ailing economy may be so bad that Russians are changing what they're planting in their gardens.
"The purchases of vegetable seeds are up 50%, while the sales of flower seeds are down this year," said Andrei Tumanov, the head of the public organization "Russian Gardeners." This is according to a report from Interfax.
The number of people who are buying seeds in the stores is a "barometer," and reveals something about the Russian economy, according to Tumanov.
He said that one-third of the deputies he personally knows admitted that they planted potatoes. (The rest told him that they stuck with flowers.)
The Russian economy has been badly bruised over the last year following Western sanctions, a ban on Western food imports, the ruble's plunge in late 2014, and double-digit inflation.
Things have gotten so bad for regular Russians that the government is considering price caps on "essential food products." The price of cabbage is up 97% in just under a year.
While the politicians may be aiming for some greater good, it's been coming at the cost everyday Russian consumers.