Nowadays, chicken legs are ordinary and familiar with all goods, which many residents of the country do not pay too much attention to. Moreover, people are so accustomed to their constant presence on sale that they even forgot their first name in the popular environment - “Bush’s legs”. And this despite the fact that a few years ago this product played an important role in building relations between the United States of America and the Russian Federation.
Salvation from hunger
At the beginning of 1990, the food situation in the decaying Soviet Union was critical. Food became less and less, and the lineups, on the contrary, increased at a crazy speed. However, friendship with the United States grew stronger every day. And at a certain moment, the then head of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, signed in a sense a historic agreement with his American counterpart George W. Bush, which indicated that the United States would supply frozen chicken legs with the Union, which eventually got painfully familiar to us the name is Bush’s legs.
Economic component
Such a decision in the current situation was, of course, beneficial to both parties. The USSR got rid of the food crisis, and the United States found for itself a huge market for its not always good food products. “Bush's legs” began to be delivered to the Union also because the overwhelming majority of Americans preferred exclusively white chicken meat, which is why the legs were sold very poorly on the US domestic market, which resulted in an overabundance of chicken legs. Therefore, Bush Sr. decided that the sale of this product in the USSR would be economically feasible and fully justified from an economic point of view.
Lifesaver
As time has shown, the “Bush legs” in Russia turned out to be a real salvation for ordinary citizens of the country during the period of enormous deficit that took place during the planned economy. And even when Boris Yeltsin came to power with his decisive idea of a free market, thanks to which the prices of all goods increased at times, American chicken legs remained open and relatively stable in value. This provided a good opportunity to feed people with low material incomes, because even one “Bush leg” made it possible to cook a hot dish (soup or borsch) for the entire average family.
Manipulation tool
In 2005, a special trade agreement was signed between the Russian and American governments, on the basis of which, until 2009, 74% of the quotas of all imported chicken in Russia should belong exclusively to the United States. At the same time, it was pointed out that each year the supply indicator should necessarily increase by 40,000 tons. In addition, American chicken legs were sold in Russia at dumping prices, which literally killed local poultry producers who were unable to withstand Western competitors. Of course, thanks to this, the US housekeeper, even on the outskirts of Alaska, stood on the “Bush legs” - the Americans' income from chicken sold overseas was so gigantic.
Such a contract made both parties hostage. The Bush Legs, the photo of which is shown below, have become a real lever of political blackmail for both Russia and the United States. The thing is that the Russian Federation was already extremely difficult to refuse this product because of its simply crazy popularity among the people. At the same time, the Americans were also not interested in losing such a huge market as Russia, because at that time 40% of chicken legs exported to it.
Ultimatum
In 2006, Russia delivered an ultimatum to the United States, which stated that trade preferences for imports of agricultural products (including Bush’s legs) would be canceled if the protocol for Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization was not completely agreed upon and approved within three months (WTO).
Insight
Over time, when the long-term euphoria from the availability of cheap chicken products was over, serious questions began to arise. Ordinary citizens of the country began to worry very much about whether it was possible to eat the “Bush legs” so beloved by him, whose caloric content was quite high (158 kcal per 100 grams of product). Repeatedly conducted expert checks stated that in these chicken legs, the concentrations of various hormones and antibiotics administered to the bird during its active growth are simply unbelievable. As a result, lovers of such legs began to undergo a significant decrease in the body's immunity and the emergence of various dangerous allergic reactions. In addition, there was information that in American chicken there are large doses of female hormones, which are extremely detrimental to the male body.
The public also became aware that American poultry producers actively use chlorine in their factories. At the same time, official US authorities allowed the concentration of this chemical element in the ratio of 20-50 parts per million. According to the owners of poultry farms, such slightly chlorinated solutions are not able to carry a danger and a threat to human health. However, even such scanty information turned out to be quite enough for sanitary doctors to sound the alarm, and potential and existing consumers to think about the rationality of acquiring such chicken legs.
However, this information did not stop many in any way, and people still continued to acquire American legs that had almost become native. And even if a person wanted to buy chicken legs that were not produced in the United States of America, brisk market traders very often literally “shoved” them under the guise of goods produced, for example, in Brazil.
International scandal
In 2002, Bush’s legs were completely banned for one month. The reason for this was the situation when, in the legs imported from the United States of America, bacteria of the pathogen Salmonella that were dangerous to human life were found. This scandal significantly spoiled the reputation of American suppliers and caused Russians to distrust them.
Taboo
American goods have repeatedly become the subject of ridicule by many comedians, and the famous satirist Mikhail Zadornov “walked” along them. Bush’s legs have been banned since January 1, 2010. This was due to the fact that the decree came into force, signed by the chief sanitary officer of Russia, which stated that it is unacceptable for the population to sell chicken products that are produced using chlorine compounds.
Import substitution
In August 2014, the Russian Federation introduced a complete trade embargo on all meat products and products from the United States. After that, the “Bush legs”, the recipe for the preparation of which over many years of their supply has become known in many Russian families, have completely ceased to be delivered to Russia. And in May 2015, Dmitry Medvedev, who was on the post of prime minister of the country, even stated that the Russian Federation could completely fill its domestic market with chicken meat. Therefore, today's chicken legs on the shelves in shops and supermarkets, have absolutely no relation to the United States, and even less to the former President Bush.