Latvia Is Going With The Flow

FOTP Monday

Continuing our alphabetic tour of the great nations of Europe, we head this week to Latvia, which can’t be discussed without discussing its former landlord, the Soviet Union, which was not only tyrannical, it was tyrannically petty.

From eng.lsm.lv

During the Soviet occupation, asparagus was not really seen in the press or on people's tables. Occasionally, there were articles mentioning asparagus as a garden vegetable, but no advice was given on how to prepare it.

Yes, the Soviets got their trusiki in a wad over tall, feathery foliage.

Economic historian Dr. Gatis Krūmiņš, in an interview with LSM.lv, points out that niche crops had little chance of survival during the Soviet occupation: "There was general unification, and Soviet standards were introduced." The historian explains that the goal was to cultivate a comprehensive culture so that people would be somewhat well-fed – for example, in the 1980s, the only food products that were not in short supply were bread – one type of loaf – and eggs: "It would therefore be logical that asparagus, as a crop that still has links to Western Europe, Germany, was not desirable."

The Soviets apparently viewed the vegetable in Latvia the way today’s GOP views DEI in Ivy League schools.