13. Humphrey comments on the symbolic value of subsistence (dacha) farming, noting that “hundreds of thousands of Muscovites...are forgoing Western consumer goods for the sake of more down-to-earth values: plots of land, dachas, or, if they have country relatives to look after them, cows, chickens, and pigs.” She goes on to say that “the produce of the plot is important to subsistence, but the dacha also has a symbolic value. It represents...‘Russianness.’” (Humphrey 2002:55-56)