Diplomatic strategy behind furnaces, the “gastrodiplomacy”

Genesis and History of the Gastrodiplomacy

Throughout history, food has played a significant role in shaping the world, carving ancient trade

routes and awarding economic and political power to those who handled cardamom, sugar, and coffee. Trade corridors such as the incense and spice route through India into the Levant and the triangular trade route spanning from Africa to the Caribbean and Europe laid the foundations for commerce and trade between modern nation-states. Indeed, these pathways encouraged discovery—weaving the cultural fabric of contemporary societies, tempering countless palates, and ultimately making way for the globalization of taste and food culture.

U.S. Foreign Service Officer Mary Jo A. Pham, expert in gastrodiplomacy.

The Gastrodiplomacy or Culinary Diplomacy covers the use of meals, in a international relations context, to transmit a non-verbal message. That is not only the manner to serve delicious food and wine to improve the atsmosphere, but also the way to convince another party to ingest your words or to digest an agreement. Historians and researchers in political science evoke several situations in which the way to choose ingredients, the place or even the tables disposition are done consciously in order to pass a message. For instance, in 1987 during a reception hosted in Washington, the president Reagan had choosen a californian wine from the Russian River Valley, a reference to his origin but also to the history of russian imigration in this region.

The term is used since 2002 as a type of cultural diplomacy, which basic premise is that the easiest way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach.

It refers to a tool of public diplomacy as a means to further diplomatic protocol through cuisine.

Or even...

"The use of food and cuisine as an instrument to create cross-cultural understanding in the hopes of improving interactions and cooperation"

Hey... But you said "Gastrodiplomacy" ?

Enventually, we can observe few general things about gastronomy. First, food is a vital part of a nations identity. We cannot deny it, food represents a cultural evolution of refinement througout centuries which result in an culinary identity and proudness.

Second, it is argued that little known countries which are lacking a well-respected image, by promoting their cuisine can attract international attention. Indeed, some countries like India, France, United-States, Japan, are providing through their delicacies an image of influence and good taste. Can it change public perceptions of national image ? According to the scientist Braden Ruddy, nothing is more right.