509

Monthly ration in Poland, early 1980s (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago by PugJesus@lemmy.world to c/historyporn@lemmy.world

160 comments fedilink hide all child comments

(page 2) 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[-] qyron@sopuli.xyz 10 points 2 months ago

Vodka and cigarettes are not necessities. Different times, obviously. If the vodka was being made either from potatoes or grain, even if of lower quality, those would be better put towards adding extra available calories for people.

p.s

This made me remember being told there was a time, my country being at war then, where cigarette packs were distributed to soldiers with a banner stamped on it that stated "Have a cigar and relax".

[-] gmtom@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

They weren't starving, most fresh produce wasn't rationed at all and was readily available. The items you see here are the just what was rationed due to supply.

load more comments (6 replies)

[-] Kvoth@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

I'm not gonna say that's anywhere near sufficient, but as a US citizen where do I sign up

load more comments (3 replies)

[-] ComradeMiao@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 months ago

I'm as anti-capitalist as it comes but how the hell would this even last half a week, let alone a night with the vodka, rice, and sweets

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The rice is about 6 us measuring cups worth, and 1 cup is enough for 2 people to have a meal after it soaks up a bunch of water (plus a bit little vodka and sugar for taste).

The Flour can make several loaves of bread as well, it's about 5000 Calories for that bag without considering oil added for a nice focaccia or butter and milk for a classic brioche.

If each person gets this then it can ~~be sufficient~~ last a week or two, but I assume it was supplementary in nature.

[-] danafest@lemm.ee 5 points 2 months ago

There's no yeast included though. Are they also maintaining a sourdough starter with that ration? Also a brioche would probably use up quite a bit of their ration for the month and possibly last about a week. Lastly, who puts vodka in rice?

load more comments (5 replies)

load more comments (3 replies)

[-] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 months ago

Can someone calculate the calories in that? I'm too lazy.

Maybe don't include the sugar. That's a shit ton of sugar to go through in month.

[-] asqapro@reddthat.com 11 points 2 months ago

Ballpark estimate, excluding the sugar:

2.5kg beef: ~6265 Calories

0.5l vodka: ~1082 Calories

1.3kg white rice: ~4743 Calories

1.3kg flour: ~4732 Calories

500g butter: ~3585 Calories

300g cooking oil (Google says rapeseed oil is popular in Poland so I used that): ~2652 Calories

250g chocolate: ~1338 Calories

Total: 24,397 Calories or ~813 Calories per day

Some other people online also did the math and came up with similar numbers. For example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37027027 came up with 33,063 Calories (including the sugar)

[-] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago

Nice, that was super fast. I guess it's probably enough for one person to survive if they practically don't move at all the entire month, for a little while at least.

Still not pleasant I imagine.

load more comments (1 replies)

[-] Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 months ago

They have almost as much sugar as starch, 2.5kg of meat, and no other protein?