Food diet and energy balance of Kalmyk collective farmers in the late 1930s: analysis by types of economic activity

Abstract

This study analyzes the diet and energy balance of Kalmyk collective farmers in the late 1930s, based on data from a comprehensive 1936 survey conducted by the People’s Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR. The study focuses on a comparative analysis of the diets of various socio-professional groups: livestock breeders, field workers, and fishermen. The study found that the Kalmyk diet was characterized by a historically high consumption of animal products, significantly exceeding the officially established physiological norms per person at the time. The highest caloric intake and proportion of animal fats and proteins were observed among livestock breeders, while the lowest were found among fishermen. The diet of blue-collar workers and office workers, although lower in calories, was generally assessed as satisfactory. The study demonstrates that, despite collectivization and the transition to a sedentary lifestyle, private household plots remained a key source of food security. At the same time, some nutritional changes occurred in the daily diet of residents of the steppe region: bread became widespread, and food diversification began with vegetables and grains. The indicated changes in the diet of the Kalmyks, as shown by a survey by an expedition of the State Institute of Social Hygiene of the People’s Commissariat of Health of the RSFSR, reflected the complex interaction of traditional pastoral culture and new socio-economic realities, serving as a kind of indicator of the adaptation of Kalmyk society to the modern conditions of Soviet reality and the socialist way of life.