Let Them Eat Broccoli

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VOLGOGRAD, Russia: Struggling to compensate workers in the cash-strapped post-Soviet era, Russian bureaucrats in Volgograd have turned to an even older form of payment to offer their workers: Turnips. And carrots, beets, and other assorted vegetables from the local harvest. The workers, who are owed about $175,000, refused the offer and staged a one hour protest strike. They say they will strike for real next week if they are not paid in cash. But in a country where even soldiers are reduced to begging on street corners to make enough cash for lunch, workers might ultimately have to eat their vegetables.