>...but it hasn't shown any sign of trying to understand the problem that the system was solving. In this case, how to make sure an unified, standardized produc

>...but it hasn't shown any sign of trying to understand the problem that the system was solving. In this case, how to make sure an unified, standardized product is being produced. Yes. They were trying to solve a non-issue in a way that aligned with the ideological (social and economic) position of the communist movement. I get it. I just refuse to interpret those kind of actions in a charitable light by linking them to modern professional organizations that create voluntary standards. It's similar to looking at the way the Venezuelan government destroyed their economy and arguing that it is no different from typical social welfare policy of a Western market-based nation because it was all done to combat poverty or something. It's pure distortion to interpret this cookbook as merely a quality or standards measure. It misses the mark and distorts the reality of why it existed. >How do I know? I was born, raised and lived in that system. I grew up in Eastern Europe. I've seen it first-hand as well. I understand that not every law or regulation was meant to be push an ideological position but let's be clear, it is no coincidence that the identified problem and the particular solution on this matter just so happen to neatly align with ideological considerations. Considerations like: 1) top-down regulation that mandated what a 'real' Czech meal is. 2) needing to wait years for permission to deviate from the official recipes. 3) maintaining the system long past the original problem (if it ever existed) became a complete non-issue. 4) mandating meals that align with the optics of what a 'proletariat' meal should be. 5) aligning this policy with economic policies that combat self-inflicted problems of shortages, inflation, lack of external trade. etc,etc,etc >many foods that were produced by these recipes (ČSN means Czechoslovak State Norms) went downhill quality-wise Maybe, but I think even that interpretation is flawed. What you interpret as quality going 'downhill', is really a product stratified across different price/quality levels to cater to different markets. You can get high-quality meals for more money, and lower-quality meals for less money. That does not mean quality went down, it means choices increased when a suffocating and market-distorting regulation is lifted.