"Bush legs" (russian: ножки Буша, nozhki Busha) is a prevailing term in the

post-Soviet states The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

that denotes chicken leg quarters from the United States. The expression first appeared in 1990 when

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

and

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

signed a trade agreement about delivery of frozen chicken leg quarters to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In those times, the USSR was experiencing food shortages and "Bush legs" enjoyed wide popularity.

Economics

As of 2006, the United States was the largest supplier of chicken to Russia, with only 55% of purchased chicken being domestically raised, 35% imported from the US, 6% from Brazil, and 4% from other countries, primarily in Europe. In 2005, the Russian and American governments signed an agreement where, until 2009, 74% of the chicken import quota would belong to American suppliers in return for the annual expansion of supplies by 40 thousand metric tons.

White meat In culinary terms, white meat is meat which is pale in color before and after cooking. In traditional gastronomy, ''white meat'' also includes rabbit, the flesh of milk-fed young mammals (in particular veal and lamb), and sometimes pork. In ecotr ...

is more popular in the US, particularly chicken breast, lowering the cost of exported dark meat like the legs and thighs. In 2010, Russian Chief Sanitary Inspector Nikolay Vlasov banned all chlorinated chicken. In 2014, all US meat was banned in Russia due to embargo. In 2015, Russia covered all imported chicken by domestic meat.

References

External links

Official website of U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
{{Russia–United States relations 1990 in international relations 1990 in the Soviet Union 1990 in the United States 1990 neologisms Post-Soviet states Poultry Presidency of George H. W. Bush Russia–United States relations Soviet Union–United States relations