The nexus between food, culture, and international relations
The Department of State has officially immortalized Culinary Diplomacy on its Tumblr page. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Ann Stock updated State’s blog, as well as its Tumblr page, to discuss the International Visitor Leadership Program … Continued
Judging by the name of this blog, I’ve obviously chosen a side in the debate (a still-nascent debate, really – you probably didn’t even know it existed) about whether food can really be used as a tool of diplomacy. The … Continued
Costas Constantinou, a professor of diplomacy at the University of Cyprus, wrote the following in 1996: “Even though the importance of gastronomy is well registered in diplomatic practice, it is nonetheless conventionally approached as a dignified, not an effective, aspect … Continued
One of my favorite examples of culinary diplomacy (or more precisely: public culinary diplomacy) is the Conflict Kitchen, a take-out restaurant in Pittsburgh. The catch here is that Conflict Kitchen only serves food from countries with which the United States … Continued
The term ‘Culinary Diplomacy’ has been in the news a lot these days, since the State Department launched their official initiative, the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, on September 7, 2012. There have been news stories about the launch and subsequent projects … Continued
I define ‘Culinary Diplomacy’ as: “The use of food and cuisine as an instrument to create a cross-cultural understanding in the hopes of improving interactions and cooperation.” It remains a working definition, but it’s the best we’ve got right now. … Continued