Food Fight

In retaliation for sanctions by the European Union, the United States, and a handful of other countries that want Moscow to change its policy in Ukraine, Moscow has banned a large assortment of food products from import to Russia.

The surprisingly harsh measure will close off the Russian market from essential items like meat, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables and is seen by the Kremlin as a boon to local producers, who will race to replace US chicken, French Brie, and Greek olives on supermarket shelves.

Initially, western sanctions were aimed at specific, targeted individuals or companies, not the larger Russian economy. Yet global outrage surged after the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, which killed nearly 300 and scattered body parts across the sunflower fields of eastern Ukraine. The exact circumstances behind the horrific tragedy are still unclear, yet it has turned much of the world against Moscow and led to broader sanctions.