In Food, Farming, and Freedom, Rami Zurayk touches on several issues involving food production and consumption in the Middle East. These include the increased westernization of the local diet; European and American domination of the market, even within Middle Eastern countries; government policies that favor the comparative advantage model; the Israeli occupation of Palestine and its effects on food production; gastrodiplomacy; deruralization and the dissolution of ties to the land; and the increasing elite status of local and terroir products.
Another issue Rami Zurayk touches on is the progressive “westernization” of Lebanon’s food habits and the resulting diseases. Where once the Lebanese population ate Lebanese cuisine- which is considered healthy and has life-prolonging benefits- people increasingly eat meat and fried foods. Obesity and cardiovascular disease have become major killers in Lebanon (Zurayk 29). This correlates with Pollan’s argument that the Western diet also spread Western diseases with it. Pollan states that obesity is caused by a lack of fiber, and that chronic diseases are caused by the consumption of food that contains fewer nutrients per calorie. Pollan identifies several major transformations in our diet: switching to refined wheat, decreasing crop diversity, simplifying …show more content…
This led to an export-oriented, rather than a local consumption oriented agricultural sector, which further allowed European powers to take control of the market (Zurayk 40). This did not happen in the Arab world alone. Indeed, Lappe argues that colonial powers have also forced production of cash crops meant for exportation in Ghana, Gambia, Java, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. Sometimes this involved taking hold of land so it could not be used to grow food crops (Lappe
Another issue Rami Zurayk touches on is the progressive “westernization” of Lebanon’s food habits and the resulting diseases. Where once the Lebanese population ate Lebanese cuisine- which is considered healthy and has life-prolonging benefits- people increasingly eat meat and fried foods. Obesity and cardiovascular disease have become major killers in Lebanon (Zurayk 29). This correlates with Pollan’s argument that the Western diet also spread Western diseases with it. Pollan states that obesity is caused by a lack of fiber, and that chronic diseases are caused by the consumption of food that contains fewer nutrients per calorie. Pollan identifies several major transformations in our diet: switching to refined wheat, decreasing crop diversity, simplifying …show more content…
This led to an export-oriented, rather than a local consumption oriented agricultural sector, which further allowed European powers to take control of the market (Zurayk 40). This did not happen in the Arab world alone. Indeed, Lappe argues that colonial powers have also forced production of cash crops meant for exportation in Ghana, Gambia, Java, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies. Sometimes this involved taking hold of land so it could not be used to grow food crops (Lappe