It's common knowledge these days that "globalization" is the trend we've been recently experiencing that has interconnected all parts of the world like never before- technologically, economically, culturally, and politically. The jury is still out on whether this is a positive or negative phenomenon, which is largely irrelevant because globalization continues to be the name of the game. Economist Thomas Friedman sites globalization's power as taking off in the 1990's, but in reality movement of people and their food was happening long before we coined it "globalization".
For example, pasta is largely considered an Italian food, but the first evidence of the noodle dates back to 2000 B.C. in China. It is thought that Marco Polo introduced Chinese noodles to Italy in the 13th century, and that ravioli is a derivative of Chinese wontons. Coffee was introduced to India from Ethiopia, and made its way to Europe before being brought to Java or Latin America. Also, ctirus fruits were non-existent in Spain and the Middle East until they were traded through North Africa from India in the 14th century.
A current example of edible globalization is the widespread trade of low-cost vegetable oils such as corn and soy which are now available to the developing world. The beauty of this "flattening" of the world is the "fattening" of the world, as poorer countries can now consume fats in amounts equal to those of richer countries. Likewise, Walmarts and regional immitators around the globe place processed, packaged, ready-to-eat foods in even the most rural areas. Indeed, overweight and obesity rates in Mexico, China, India, and the Phillipines are rising to meet those of the U.S., as the global trade of foods continues at an ever-increasing rate.
"The World is Fat", Barry Popkin. 2009
