[ue_]

That doesn't sound like a very nice thing to do. I wonder if capitalism is to blame, as I would certainly blame capitalism, or good old fashioned egotistical rivalry that I'm told was common in many areas of life then between the USSR and the US.

I'd say that feeding humans or even livestock is more important than profits. Or at least, it ought to be.

[a_w]

Unfortunately for some profit is still more important than human health or the environment [0]

"Trafigura, Vitol and BP exporting dirty diesel to Africa, says Swiss NGO

"Traders blend cheap fuel with sulphur levels many times the European limit for sale in African countries, says Public Eye"

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/15/trafigura-vito...

[LeifCarrotson]

Or classical capitalism, because 99 ton of wheat plus one ton of sand is one ton of wheat cheaper than 100 tons of wheat. Sand is heavy and cheap.

[nikcub]

I just happen to have bought some sand recently, and it isn't that cheap. Especially not the type of sand that you'd feel comfortable mixing into food.

Where I am, a ton of sand aggregate using in construction is ~$100 per ton. The better sand used in gardens, the brown sand (it's used to repel water so you don't over-water crops) is more than than.

Considering the wheat/ton spot price is $160 per ton at the moment, I don't think the actual prices would be too different.

[0] http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=wheat&month...

[niij]

Perhaps it's 1% by volume instead of by weight.

[fulafel]

A good compromise would have been to put a small bag of sand in the bottom of the container.

[thecrazyone]

Though we'd want that to be okay. The Russians might then reject saying you sent us 999 kgs of wheat and 1 kg of sand.

Also, diplomatically, this might be more difficult to defend. Although allowing this would've been in the best interest of both nations. Cue the human condition :)