Summer/Fall 2002 Cul&Soc 5/25/02 4:33 PM Page 73 Cu l t ur e&So c i e ty

In Old Pera, New Challenges for

Paul Skoczylas

All of the puzzles and problems of modern-day Tur k ey can be Paul Skoczylas is a graduate student in found in Taksim, the contemporary heir to the ancient Byzan- the Peace and Security tine city of Per a that connected Europe with Asia. Here, Studies Program at Georgetown Universi- ornate, European-style buildings housing western stores , ty. He was a Rotary res t a u r ants, nightclubs, and wine houses coexist with Muslim International Ambas- sadorial Scholar and a family res t a u r ants, newly-renovated mosques, and men work- Fulbright Scholar in ing out of sheds. As middle class families stroll along the main Turkey. He currently works in Government th o r o u g h f a r e, wearing the latest fashions and chatting about Relations at the Her- the newest American and European films, villagers hawk cheap itage Foundation. Asian textiles in the side alleys, Kurdish teenage boys sell stuffed mussels from large trays they carry on their backs, and gypsy children beg for money. The puzzles of modernity that confront the developing world are played out vividly in Taksim. Here, one can see the vision of a modern secular Turkey, outlined by the country's founder, Kemal Atatürk, competing with the Islamist desire to regain Turkey's prominence as a leader of the Islamic world. This competition plays out amidst a larg- er economic and political crisis that continues to plague the country. The success of the political system in providing a stable environment where Turks feel hope for the future may well determine the character of modern Turkey in the years to come.

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IN OLD PERA, NEW CHALLENGES FOR T U R K E Y

The puzzles of modernity that confront the developing world are played out vividly in Taksim.

A Quarter on the Vanguard. In dence. Although never implemented, Ottoman times, Taksim (then known as the dismemberment of Tur k ey proposed Per a) was a walled city across the Golden by the Treaty of Sevres infused Tur k i s h Horn—a shallow inlet of the Bosphorus— national identity with a suspicion that from the Sublime Port and Top k a p fo r eign powers sought to dismember Palace, the administrative and political Tur k ey piece by piece. Known as the seat of the Ottoman Empire. Formerly a “ S e v res Syndrome,” this fear colors tr ading outpost for Europeans in the Turkish politics even today. Religious Byzantine era, Per a rose to prominence minorities, with their close historic ties as a hub of commerce during the late to Europe, were viewed as agents of for- Ottoman Empire as successive sultans eign powers. Indeed, underscoring this gr anted trading privileges to European p e rception was the fact that many powers. Per a also served as a center for Ottoman minorities openly supported religious minorities who acted as a con- the European occupation. duit between the Ottoman Empire and The experience of having to expel for- European traders. As trade became more eign powers to secure a homeland pro- important, these religious groups vided a basis for citizenship in the emerg- became wealthier and developed close ties ing Turkish Republic. In yet another with their European co-re l i g i o n i s t s . chapter of the ugly book of twentieth They were the vanguard of the Euro- century nationalism, the concept of peanization of the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish citizenship was narrowly process that embraced Christians, Jews, defined, leaving out religious and ethnic and Turks in the ruling elite, but left minorities. Tur k ey and Greece, each behind the village Turks and Arabs who committed to a religious concept of eth- constituted the majority of the empire. nic nationalism, agreed to an exchange of The renaissance of Taksim during the populations whereby Muslims in Gree c e last century parallels the emergence of we r e forced to go to Tur k ey and Chris- the Turkish nation-state. Tu r k i s h tians in Tur k ey were expelled to Gree c e . nationalism arose as a political move- Nearly 1.5 million people were dislocated ment in opposition to outside powers. At from places their families had called the end of World War I, which the home for centuries. Although there were Ottoman Empire entered on the Axis exceptions to this rule, such as those side, the Turks found their empire accomodating Christians in , divided up among European powers, riots destroying minority-owned busi- with only a rump state left for ethnic nesses and homes throughout Tur k ey in Turks. Atatürk drove out the European 1955 convinced most minorities to leave. powers and secured the country’s pre- Of the few who remained, many were sent-day borders as a homeland for banished by Turkish prime minister Turks in the Turkish War of Indepen- Ismet Inonu in 1964 on twenty-four

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hours notice, forcing them to abandon residences of European traders, and they their homes and all their possessions. continue to lead two lives today. While A walk through Taksim provides the the ground-floor warehouse areas have informed visitor with an eerie rem i n d e r been transformed into small workspaces of this legacy. The main street, a pedes- for tailors, leatherworkers, newsstands, trian walkway named Istiklal Cadessi, is and dry goods stores, the upper floors of lined with churches that are largely emp- many ha n s have been prized by entrep r e- ty. Locals do not seem to question why neurs who have converted them into th e r e are so many churches in an area some of Taksim’s best night spots. Ha n s with so few Christians. Perhaps in a reveal the brilliant contrast found country filled with relics of the past, these throughout Taksim. While the Tur k i s h ch u r ches seem no different than the middle class dances the night away in Gr eek and Roman temples found along tr endy res t a u r ants and clubs, the lower the Aegean Sea. classes work literally beneath their feet. Despite crumbling facades and fading The Turkish middle class—the kee p e r s paint, one can still discern buildings of Atatürk's secular tradition—consists of designed to meet European tastes: art professionals, small businessmen, and nouveaux, baroque, and Roman rev i v a l industry owners, who have built an styles are all prominent. Although largely i m p ressive and lively infra s t r u c t u re . forgotten and neglected, these buildings Istanbul alone has over eighty Rotary nonetheless house the spirit of old Per a, a Clubs and numerous business and spirit rekindled by the industriousness of industry associations. A vibrant, if some- a new class of rural immigrants. A centu- times over-the-top, media keeps Tur k i s h ry ago, it would have been these villagers professionals informed. The children of that would have been considered forei g n - the middle class often attend schools like ers in their own capital city. Tur k s , Taksim’s Galatasaray Lise, the ren o w n e d Ku r ds, Laz, and people from the Hatay (a French language high school, or Robert former Arab province) come to Istanbul College, founded by Americans. Tak s i m from villages around Anatolia—Tur ke y ' s abounds with foreign-language schools, Asiatic wing, spanning from the Aegean and most middle class children can con- on the west to the Iraq - I r an border on the verse in at least one foreign language. east. They work long days, sending mon- Although English is the most popular ey back to their villages, trying to provide language, German is gaining in popular- for their families, and hoping to make ity as ties between Tur k ey and Germany their fortune in what is known back in and between Tur k ey and the European Anatolia as the “City of Gold.” Union stren g t h e n . You can find these men and women in Tur k ey is also home to a growing num- the back streets of Taksim selling snacks, ber of western stores. However, once servicing cigarette lighters, shining shoes, viewed as a sign of modernization, these sharpening knives, and tra n s p o r t i n g expensive stores are increasingly viewed goods and people in large man-powered with a degree of contempt. With the carts. More fortunate vendors occupy st o r es’ high prices, and the Turkish cur- small spaces on the first floor of ha n s . rency in steady decline, fewer and fewer These multistory buildings once acco- Turks, even those in the upper-middle modated both the warehouses and ornate class, are able to frequent these stores. It is

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especially unsettling when these stores sell Consequently, members of the trad i - expensive items that are “Made in tional middle class who support the Tur k ey.” The only way most Turks can Kemalist project have been increa s i n g l y af f o r d labels like Benetton, French Con- marginalized. The professional classes nection, and H&M is by buying imita- pay taxes, confront extremely volatile tions for a few dollars per item from ven- inflation rates (68 percent in 2001), ris- dors that line the side stree t s — e v i d e n c e ing unemployment, and decreasing rea l also of the informal business that helps wages, and watch helplessly the growth of sustain Turkish textile worker s . the crony capitalist class and the expen- So who keeps these stores in business? sive service sector that caters to them. The answer lies at the heart of the dilem- ma encountered by the liberalization of The Continuing Crisis. Th o m a s many developing economies. As Tur ke y Fri e d m a n ’s book The Lexus and the Olive Tre e opens its economy, its weak political, describes domestic institutions as analo- judicial, and economic structures help gous to an operating system on a com- foster crony capitalism. Politicians rou- puter. To successfully “plug into the tinely ensure that they and their political global system,” a country needs to have a allies gain from the privatization of state good operating system. As Tur k ey plugs companies and industries. As a result of into the global system, its weak domestic this incomplete economic liberal i z a t i o n , st r u c t u r es marginalize those who follow many Turks have become extrao rd i n a r i - the rules, and leave behind the hard- ly wealthy through illegal means. It is working migrants who peddle goods on

Perhaps in a country filled with relics of the past, [deserted Christian] churches seem no di f f e r ent than the Greek and Roman temples found along the Aegean Sea.

these Turks who buy Merce d e s - B e n z e s , the streets in a struggle to make ends shop in expensive stores, and push meet. Without strong institutions to prime real estate in Istanbul to prices promote capitalism, ensure fair growth, that compete with San Fra n c i s c o ’ s . and enforce uniform rules, a corrupt Un l i k e the professional middle class, Russian-style economy may result with these elites are not progressive. They do di r e political consequences. not invest in education for their chil- Despite three IMF bailouts in the past dr en, speak foreign languages, or sup- two years, no amount of foreign aid port integration with Europe. They seems enough for Tur k ey to overcome its realize that integration would req u i r e economic woes. The money buys only establishing the rule of law, which would time without driving reform, in effect hamper their ability to exploit the sys- subsidizing a corrupt and inefficient sys- tem. The Kemalist project of secularism tem. Under current conditions, the poor and modernism means little to them. will remain poor, the middle class will

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decline in influence, and a mafia-style message is clear: if the government can- elite will increase in wealth and power. not secure conditions for working people For things to change, Tur k ey's imma- to make a good wage, and if moderat e tu r e democracy will have to undergo seri- officials continue to remain dishonest ous reforms. The political culture of and inept, the people will turn to more Turkish democracy has to catch up with radical means. its institutional trappings. Curren t l y , As Tur k ey takes on these challenges, political parties resemble cults of person- the results will manifest themselves in ality, where the leaders cannot be ques- Taksim. If corruption continues and the tioned, much less replaced. They serve economy cannot stabilize, an unbridge- neither the country nor the people, but able gap will emerge between the poor their own interests. Though mandatory who work diligently on the lower floors of voter turnout keeps numbers up at the the ha n s and the rich who dance above polls, voters do not have much faith that their heads. The pleasures of Taksim will they can build a better future by demand- be enjoyed by a few, while the many will ing more of their leaders. look on without hope for a better future. The desperation many Turks face has Politically, this frustration could fuel been demonstrated by an increase in the further gains among the nationalists and popularity of fringe political parties—the the Islamists, and extreme measures to Islamist Wel f a r e Party received 21 perce n t gain some semblance of rule of law and of the vote in the 1995 general elections, justice could result. Those concerned while the nationalist National Action with the fate of Tur k ey look to Tak s i m Party received 18 percent in 1999. The ap p r ehensively for signs of change.

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Culture&Society

Reflections on the Eroding Diversity of a Globalized Food Supply

K. Dun Gifford

Humans have always pushed to their horizons, and over the K. Dun Gifford is President of Oldways eons they have become this planet’s only global species. In the Preservation & last hundred years, the character of globalization has changed Exchange Trust. dr amatically, and the expansionary process that was once dri- ven by tribes, peoples, or nations now belongs to multination- al corporations. Because food and drink are essential for liv- ing, and all humans have an elemental, innate drive for them, food and drink is a useful eyepiece through which to examine the implications of globalization.

Ge tting to Global . Ar chaeologists and anthropologists often tr ace human migration routes with ref e r ence to trade in foods. In ancient times, traders traveled back and forth on the spice routes across Asia, and with amphorae full of wine and olive oil around the Mediterranean Basin. Fifteenth- and sixteenth-cen- tury European monarchs spent royal fortunes to send fleets across uncharted oceans in search of trea s u r e and spices. Through centuries of trade, food such as coffee, tea, chocolate, salt, sugar, and cod were carried over well-trav e l e d land and water routes and became important global com- modities. These and other “strange and exotic” foods trav e l e d widely, were welcomed by different cultures, and were grad u - ally assimilated into the cuisines of the importing societies.

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Christopher Columbus’s voyages of year, that adds up to more than 16 billion discovery compressed many of the ele- me a l s . 2 Burger King, Wendy’s, Piz z a ments of this creeping globalization of Hut, and Kentucky Fried Chicken follow food into a single event—what is com- close behind. monly called the Colombian Exchange. In 1992, the 500th anniversary of Eating as an Eyepiece. Fast food Columbus’s landing was the impetus for is a complex term, because it has an “old extensive examinations of its conse- ways” meaning and an “industrial age” quences. Ne w s w e e k , for example, published meaning. In the “old ways” sense, apples, a special Columbus edition in which it pears, strawberries; oysters and clams; concluded, “Columbus’s voyages changed and celery; nuts and raisins; and the ethnic composition of two continents, milk and cheese are fast foods. Once revolutionized the world’s diet and ga t h e r ed, made, or purchased, they can al t e r ed the global environment. His lega- be eaten fast without a lot of fuss. In the cy is the Columbian Exchange: the crucial industrial age, fast foods are bottled and intermingling of peoples, animals, canned: sugary drinks, rapidly prep a re d plants, and diseases between Europe, frozen foods, and quick meals sold at fast Africa and the Americas.”1 food outlets. Once purchased, they too Through the Columbian Exchange, can be eaten fast. corn, tomatoes, and potatoes trav e l e d The difference is that the “old ways” from the New World to the old, while foods and drinks are more likely to be wheat, cattle, and apples traveled from local and natural, while the industrial the Old World to the new. These foods, techno-foods and drinks are more likel y unknown when they arrived in their new to contain laboratory chemicals and come homes, became traditional staples; they from factories. Foods and drinks of the we r e ac c u l t u r a t e d into the local cuisines. industrial model are more likely to be Steak is now quintessentially American, te c h n o - f o o d s — m a n u f a c t u r ed in facto- though cattle are native to Asia; spaghetti ries, “fresh” for up to a year, and deter- with sauce is now quintessentially minedly uniform wherever in the world Italian, though tomatoes are native to they are sold. They are truly “global.” South America. This second group of foods is prolif- Today, this trend continues. People all er ating rapidly today. Just as the ambi- over the world consume Australian and tions and wealth of a powerful royal king- Californian wines, Evian and Per r i e r dom 500 years ago triggered the water pumped from wells in France, New Columbian Exchange and set off global Zealand lamb, and fresh Chilean ras p - dietary and cultural revolutions, the berries. Grapes are flown to winter tables ambitions and wealth of modern inter- all over the Northern Hemisphere, and national corporations have launched a frozen American beef and chicken are second revolution, with more profound shipped everywhere. consequences. This is the “techno-food Perhaps the most apparent aspect of revolution,” and its hallmark is global the globalized food system is the prolifer- st a n d a rd i z a t i o n . ation of fast food chains. McDonald’s serves 45 million people every day in Gl oba lized Food, Uniform Cul- 29,000 res t a u r ants in 121 countries. In a ture . Anthropologists have long

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argued that “to know what, when, how, ences of local cultures. In Japan, McDon- and with whom people eat is to know the ald’s has experimented with such items as ch a r acter of their society.”3 Indeed, one Ma c C h a o (Chinese fried rice), tsukimi baga can see that Italian res t a u r ants have dif- (fried egg burger or “moon-viewing fe r ent foods and rituals than Chinese burger”), rib burgers, shrimp burgers, res t a u r ants, for example. In turn, these and teriyaki burgers. In Korea, experi- ar e different from Mexican, Indian, ments include melon-flavored milk- Irish, or Moroccan res t a u r ants. The sh a k es, and in Mexico, burritos.5 Still, the foods, prep a r ations, and pref e r ences of res t a u r ants and their offerings are rec o g - di f f e r ent peoples are distinctly dissimi- nizably western in every way. lar. These culturally-rooted food habits The proliferation of fast food res t a u - or “cuisines” are important marker s rants is about more than the foods being that help to distinguish cultures from sold. Regarding the remarkable success of one another. fast food in China, where there are now The techno-food revolution is a retail rev o - roughly 600 Kentucky Fried Chicken lution intended to change what billions outlets, the president of a Beijing market of people eat and drink. McDonald’s res e a r ch firm said, “Americans are sell- calls this its “global realization” goal, and ing not just products but a culture, and it it is well on its way to realizing it. As E. is a culture that many Chinese want.”6 Schlosser notes in his book Fast Foo d Global firms selling techno-foods Na t i o n , the chain opens roughly five new understand the inseparability of food res t a u r ants each day, at least four of and culture, and rely upon it to attrac t which are outside the United States. their customers. Within the next decade, it hopes to dou- To examine another part of this global ble that number. As a brand name, techno-food revolution, we must look at McDonald’s is now more rec o g n i z a b l e how globalization is changing the offer- around the world than Coca-Cola.4 ings in local markets where people shop This revolution relies upon products for food to cook in their home kitchens. that are standardized, pasteurized, sani- Rather than the human-scale interac t i o n s tized, and homogenized. It determined- and local variation of the traditional mar- ly reflects a one-size-fits-all mentality. It ketplace, we increasingly see large chain ma k es no seasonal or geographic distinc- st o r es with enormous volume and central tions. Its logos and signs are the same the wa r ehousing of stock that is reshipped to world over, even if they are printed in st o r es in many different locations. di f f e r ent languages. As they have done with the techno-food These techno-foods and drinks are in fast food res t a u r ants, global food cor- served in clean, well lit, conveniently po r ations are standardizing everything on located places, and often have public bath- ma r k et shelves: , biscuits, frozen rooms, a novelty in some countries. The vegetables and fruits, meat and poultry, service personnel are trained to be effi- dried grains, boxed cereals, cookies, cient, polite, and cheerful. The foods and cra c k ers, and everything else in sight. drinks are hygienic, filling, familiar, and Extending shelf life is the major initiative, pr edictable—and customers flock to them. which is why shelves are crowded with Fast food companies have made some products that are “fresh” for a year, surel y efforts to accommodate the taste pref e r - an oxymoron. New strains of produce are

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br ed for durability and appearance rat h e r can and other Latin populations at least than taste. With tomatoes, for example, we since it was first cultivated 5,000 years have seen the development and market i n g ago, and has been central to their rel i - of the “hard ripe.”7 gion and cultures. Such rapid modern- A parallel initiative is frozen “conve- ization creates great social dislocation in nience home meals” that are clones of a developing economy.8 the offerings in fast food res t a u ra n t s . The combination of these tre n d s This “value-adding,” which means sell- viewed through the food eyepiece rev e a l s ing fifty cents worth of food for $2.99 the extent to which globalization is mar- because it is “convenient,” is very prof- ginalizing some of the core elements of itable. In the long term, these initiatives tr aditional food cultures: local cuisines, will shrink the range of the world’s local food markets, and local farming. dizzying numbers of cuisines, reduce the varieties of fresh foods available in mar- What Chance for Change? Se n i o r kets, and accelerate the push to extin- co r p o r ate executives who manage multi- guish the fires of home cooking. national food and drink corporations are Another impact of this techno-food fully aware of the controversies that the revolution is in farming. A much small- global techno-food revolution has stirred er pool of large producers increa s i n g l y up about the dangers of globalization. controls production for local market s Making the argument that “oftentimes the that was formerly in the hands of small pe r ception about global anger is some- growers. For example, Mexican agrono- what different than the reality,” Jack mists and economists worry that Ameri- Gr eenberg, the chairman and CEO of can agribusiness is a severe threat to the McDonald’s, noted that at the same time ability of small farmers in Mexico to sus- that several thousand protestors were

Global techno-food companies are dismissive of the issues raised by [anti- globalization] protesters.

tain themselves by growing corn. The rioting at the 1999 World Trade Organi- remarkable cost efficiencies of heavily- zation meeting in Seattle, vandalizing subsidized American corporate farms multinational companies like McDon- and the workings of international trad e ald’s as a means to express their anger at ag r eements place American corn into globalization, more than 175 million cus- the Mexican economy at a lower cost than tomers were served in McDonald’s res t a u - Mexican farmers can meet, creating not rants around the world.9 These com- only a cultural shift in Mexico, but also ments reflect a degree of candor and self- an economic drain. Since NAF T A went aw a r eness unusual among top-level cor- into effect, imports of cheap corn from po r ate executives. They are also excellent the U.S. have increased nearly eighteen evidence that the global techno-food fold, making up a quarter of the supply. companies are dismissive of the issues Corn has been the staple food of Mexi- raised by protesters.

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It is clear that the techno-food rev o l u - that those which ar e the same must not tion has by no means run its course, but deviate from the standard. The customers is continuing on its seemingly rel e n t l e s s may not be predictable; but the foods for path. It is also clear that its standardi z e d which the establishment is known ought techno-foods have a strong appeal for to be.”10 This is the essential mantra of the consumers and are steadily eroding food twenty-first century global corporat i o n : cu l t u r es in every corner of the world, as control the standards, control the bran d , they are intended to do. Whether this and control the market . erosion of the richness of diversity At junctures such as this, when it is per- among food cultures matters in the long haps futile to identify finite cultural mea- run of history is not a simple question. su r es of whether globalization “matters,” Reaching for the horizon—the germ of it is useful to find harbor in literat u re : globalization—is an indelible charac t e r i s - “The ideal of a single civilization, implicit tic of humans; history is decisive about in the cult of progress and technology, this. Today, electronic communications impoverishes and mutilates us,” wrote and air transportation continue to Octavio Paz. “Every view of the world that shrink the world and simplify the mar- becomes extinct, every culture that disap- keting of techno-food. It seems likel y , pears, diminishes a possibility of life.” then, that the techno-foods’ global mar- ket penetration will continue to expand, G lob alized Food, Degraded and, as it does, distinct food cultures will Nutrition. It is far easier to project a continue to erode. continued expansion in the global sprea d This does not, however, imply that the of industrialized techno-food than it is techno-food revolution is simply a clone, to project a reversal; no effective coun- or even a variant, of the Columbian tervailing force to this process exists. But Exchange. It is very different, both qual- a developing oppositional current may be itatively, and quantitatively. The animals found in growing concern about the and plants of the Columbian Exchange nutritional value of techno-food and its we r e “imported” to new places, but there implications for human health. we r e no standards for the use of the new In the last three years, national and foods, no marketing studies, and no sales international public health officials have reports. No one was in charge, and so raised alarm about the rates of increase in each local culture used the foods in its weight gain and obesity. These increa s e s own way, essentially reshaping its own we r e, until recently, noted largely in cu l t u r e to adapt to these changes. In Italy, western countries, and ascribed to corn became polenta, tomatoes were unhealthy “westernized” diets and used in pasta sauces cooked with olive oil, declining physical activity. and coffee became espres s o . At the end of 2001, the U.S. surgeon But the foods of the techno-food rev - ge n e r al released a report titled “Call to olution are under control, from farm to Action to Prevent and Decrease Over- table. Foods are sold pre-packaged, pre- weight and Obesity,” saying that these pre p a r ed, and standardized. As S. W. conditions had reached “epidemic pro- Mintz wrote in an article included in the portions” because 61 percent of U.S. book Golden Arches East, “The rule is not that adults and 13 percent of children and all the foods must be the same, so much as adolescents were overweight.11

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Will the awareness of the rapid global sprea d of techno-foods, with their negative nutrition profiles, be enough to counter the trend?

To put these figures into perspective, burgers, fried chicken, fried potatoes, th e r e are now twice the number of over- fried rings, sugary drinks, crea m y weight children and three times as many s h a kes, cheese food (as opposed to overweight adolescents as there were in cheese), and fried fruit desserts. It is dif- 1980. Without a reversal in this tren d , ficult to locate complex carbohydrates in the surgeon general warns, “obesity may techno-food establishments: their brea d soon cause as much preventable disease offerings are made with highly ref i n e d and death as cigarette smoking.”12 white flour, which the body tran s f o r m s This report repeats the conclusions of into sugars almost as soon as it is eaten. every prior study that has analyzed the The only evident fruits and vegetables in reasons for weight gain over the last most techno-food establishments are the twenty years: “excess calorie consump- occasional leaf of iceberg lettuce, slice of tion and/or inadequate physical activi- tomato, or sugary fruit drink, and these ty , ” 13 and that “it is also known that a ar e only token gestures when compared healthy diet and adequate physical activi- to real nutritional needs. This is, as the ty aid in maintaining a healthy weight, WHO report notes, a precise pres c r i p - and among overweight and obese per- tion for population-wide ill health. It is sons, can promote weight loss.”14 Re c e n t - also a deep crack in the heret o f o re - ly, many non-western, lesser-developed im p e n e t r able armor of the global tech- countries have shown similar signs of no-food revolution. impending problems with obesity, with the accompanying risks of diabetes, can- A Look Ahead. The important ques- cer, and digestive and heart disease. tions about the globalization of food are A dozen years ago the World Health not whether food is being globalized more Organization (WHO) recognized the rapidly than ever before in human histo- li k elihood of this epidemic, and identi- ry (it is), nor whether culture diversity fied its dietary cause: an excess of energy- and richness are being eroded (they are) . dense foods rich in fat and sugars, rat h e r The key question is this: Will the aware- than complex carbohydrat e s . 15 ness of the rapid global spread of techno- WHO’s description, in fact, aptly foods, with their negative nutrition pro- describes techno-foods: energy-dense files, be enough to counter the trend? N OT E S 1 “When Worlds Collide,” Ne w s w e e k , Special Edi- Ho u g h t o n Mifflin, 2001), 229 toin (Fal l / W inter 1991): 10. 5 Personal knowledge and information from 2 “McDonald’s First Quarter 2002 Update,” on James L. Watson, Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia McDonald’s web site. . 6 Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Buicks, Starbucks and 3 Peter Farb and George Armelagos, Consuming Pas - Fried Chicken. Still China?,” New York Tim e s , 25 Feb - sions: The Anthropology of Eating (New York: Houghton ruary 2002, A4. Mifflin, 1980), 211. 7 M. Sheraton, Food Markets of the World, (New 4 Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation ( B o s t o n : York: Henry Abrams, 1997), 25.

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8 Bernard Aronson, quoted in Tim Weiner, “In Press, 2000), 191. Co r n ’s Cradle, U.S. Imports Bury Family Farms,” Ne w 11 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, York Tim e s , 26 February 2002: A8. The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight 9 Serge Schmemann, “Where McDonald’s Sits and Obesity (W ashington, DC: USHHS, 2001): p. xiii. Down With Arab Nationalists,” New York Tim e s , 2 Feb - 12 Ibid., xiii. ruary 2002: A8. 13 Ibid., 1. 10 Sidney W. Mintz, “Afterword Swallowing 14 Ibid., 15. Modernity”, in Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia, 15 World Health Orgainzation, Diet, Nutrition and the ed. James L. Watson, (Stanford: Stanford University Prevention of Chronic Diseases, 1990: 10-11.

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Ge o r getown Jou r n a l of In te r n a t i o nal Affairs Fromreligion . . . & po w e r to . . . Re f u the longg roade to protectione s tackling the issues that shape our world Call for Papers! The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is accepting submissions for the Winter/Spring 2003 issue. Articles must be approximately 3,000 words in length. They should have the intellectual vigor to meet the highest scholarly standard, but be written with the clarity to attract a broad audience. Please send articles and/or questions to [email protected].