A major reason for the difference in the American diet, and the rural Chinese diet is the great disparity in wealth. The wealthier a nation is, the more complex their food supply chains become, capitalism forces the drive for cheap food. This is happens for a few reasons. First, the migration of developing nation’s population from rural areas to cities, changes how food is produced. Food production becomes centralized, with an efficient supply chain that can reach the city. Producers search for more efficient ways to produce the food already available, I.E. high yield crops and Animal Factories. This drives the small farmers out of business, in favor of the large corporations, and chain grocery stores. The second reason is the introduction of new food products into the market. As population becomes more affluent, they are willing to spend in on more expensive and exotic items, like coffee and sugar.
The difference is exemplified in the food photographs between the Rural Chinese family, compared to the Beijing family, who are much more affluent. Beijing is an urbanized city, farmers markets are replaced by western style grocery stores. The urbanized Chinese adopt a more Western way of life and diet. The Beijing families table, more closely matches that of the American families, and it even include junk food, fast food, and soda to boot. Interestingly enough, it is hard to describe who has the better diet. The commodity chains for the types of food found in the developed nations are complex, they use ingredients and products from all over the world, and seemingly higher researched and genetically modified. In rural China, they are using a kind of farm to table commodity chain, their food goes straight from producer (neighboring farms) to consumer, or are probably grown right in their own backyard.
Photos from
2005 Peter Menzel / Hungry Planet: What the World Eats / www.menzelphoto.com
