Globalism For Dinner

This post is about biology, business, beef and bunnies in Korea.

Food is an important part of Korean culture, and politics. A few decades ago, the demand for agricultural products from a growing population in South Korea surpassed the supply, and the country began relying on imports for goods such as beef, wheat and corn. North Korea, on the other hand, notoriously does not have enough food to even feed its entire population, and desperately needs certain imported food items. Globalization has many implications for how and what people eat.

Food politics are a sensitive matter. For example, in South Korea, rice is significantly more expensive than in other countries in the region. Only a small percentage of the peninsula is arable, and so the government shields the domestic rice industry from outside influences – a detail which often amounts to a stumbling block during international trade negotiations. Korea still protects a few of its industries in this way from liberalization, to the dismay and criticism of certain countries such as the US.

Another facet to the agricultural import debate is standards of quality. Both the domestic and international beef industry in the US is overseen by the FDA, an entity predisposed to political machinations rather than its intended role of quality supervision. After the mad cow scare beginning in the 1980s, developed nations all adopted stronger, anti-BSE measures for the cattle industry. Despite these measures, BSE arrived in Korea in late 2003, a time when the US supplied the majority of beef consumed in the country. A ban on US beef resulted shortly. Beef politics is still a sour issue between the countries, even after South Korea lifted the beef ban. Flecks of bone in imported meat from the US, a tell-tale sign of feeding and handling practices that promote BSE, have recently prompted a renewal of the ban.

North Korea faces virtually the opposite problem. Due to certain regrettable foreign policy positions, the country faces considerable restrictions in its trading options and partners. As a result, food is again an extremely sensitive issue. North Korea is currently negotiating with a German rabbit breeder to import exceptionally fat rabbits as one measure to alleviate hunger. These bunnies have been carefully bred to be unusually voracious and can grow up to a whopping 10kg, supplying ample fur and meat. A pilot project is currently underway.

Agricultural import policy is a strange confluence of politics and gastronomy. All countries import varying amounts of foodstuffs, so the very act of eating itself is a delicious result of modern globalization. Globalization and food imports also carry a fair share of controversy, such as the threat to domestic GDP (and health) in South Korea, or starvation in the North. A dinner plate is a useful yardstick of both foreign policy and culture.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6323385.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6320821.stm
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ks.html