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diff --git a/docs/random/index.md b/docs/random/index.md index 97a64ef..9c34d64 100644 --- a/docs/random/index.md +++ b/docs/random/index.md @@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ Nevertheless, occasionally I leave a permanent trace along the way. - [Review of My Chemical Romance discography](mcr_discog_review) - [xkcdbot](xkcdbot) - [Playlist to put on on my deathbed](deathbed_playlist) +- [Of Potato Chips And Food Globalization](potato_chips) diff --git a/docs/random/potato_chips.md b/docs/random/potato_chips.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b7c80e --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/random/potato_chips.md @@ -0,0 +1,243 @@ +# Of Potato Chips and Food Globalization + +Written 2021-12-04 + +Published 2023-03-31 + +## Disclaimer + +This is my argumentative essay for an academic writing course. It is +_not_ a paper, and there are many debatable, uncited claims. My major has +nothing to do with food or economics. + +I am now publishing this on my blog because I want to cite it in another +assignment for a psychology course. If you are reading this, TA +(thanks for your time btw), you may find a PDF +[here](/static/potato_chips.pdf). + +If you are taking or about to take Prof. Joelle Tybon's VY100, I am +obligated by Honor Code to warn you against plagiarism, as if my work +would be any use to you. + +Otherwise, this essay is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. + +## Essay + +Potato chips are ubiquitous. These deep fried, crunchy and greasy slices, sealed +in a bag or cylinder, are shelved in convenience stores of virtually every city. +Despite bearing a reputation for being nutritionless, their value for research +exceeds what one might expect from a cheap snack. Potato chips are a highly +globalized processed food, thanks to international food corporations expanding +their market. Yet on the other hand they are also localized, partly due to +efforts by local branches of said corporations to cater to local demand, +resulting in diverse flavors from market to market. In this paper I will use +potato chips as a primary example to show that the popularity a flavor of +processed food receives in a region depends on its culinary practices and the +history of the food. + +A particularly interesting phenomenon is that many regions feature their own set +of unique flavors that are hardly found anywhere else. One example is the duo +Cucumber and Salt & Vinegar, respectively found in the Sinosphere and the +Anglosphere, or, for the sake of simplicity, China and Britain. Cucumber +flavored potato chips are not widely known or sold in Britain; salt & vinegar +flavored potato chips are just the opposite, and the minority of Chinese eaters +who do enjoy them, to this day, have to purchase them abroad or from specialized +stores. Product reviews on _Amazon_ and _Taobao_ show that, of the two, each flavor +available to one region receives generally negative feedback in the other. + +This observation shows that flavors are region-dependent. For a food +manufacturer seeking the overseas market, simply copying all flavors of +a processed food from its birthplace to another region would fail, especially if +the two have little cultural overlap. There can be such unagreeable flavors +that, no matter how heavily marketed, will not be appreciated overnight. It may +take years, or even generations, for the latter region’s population to accept +it. On the contrary, a brand new, never-before-imagined flavor could be invented +there and turn out successful. What is it that determines the popularity of +a flavor in a region, then? Evidently, taste is not the only reason, because +there is no standard for it. This prompts us to search for social factors that +consumers take into consideration when judging a flavor. + +Flavor preferences of processed food are closely connected to culinary +practices, in other words, how people cook. Ostensibly this may sound bizzare, +since processed food is commonly believed to be an escape from the kitchen, and +a consumer of processed food does not necessaarily know how to cook. However, +since food undergoes domestication to align better with local culture (Pilcher +33), I will show via analysis that culinary practices affect the cultural +perception of a certain ingredient, and thus of a flavor. The analysis focuses +on four perspectives: familiarity, social status, variety, and combination. + +Familiarity is the most obvious of all. If a flavor is advertised to be made of +an ingredient native to a region, it will face fewer hurdles on its way to +popularity. China is the world’s biggest producer as well as consumer of +cucumber, which means people are more familiar with this plant. Likewise, +flavors involving cheese or onion are more popular in Western countries, and +seeweed flavored chips originated in Japan. Substantial consumption is +beneficial but optional, as Rath pointed out that a food can act as an agent of +national identity whether it is a main staple or not (82). This could explain +the rise of salted egg yolk, hot pot and red braised pork belly flavors in the +Sinosphere — none of the three are staples, yet all are without a doubt +representative of Chinese cuisine. + +Social status is the hierachy that a culture assigns to an ingredient. To +paraphrase Warde, a prestigious taste situates a person in a higher social +class, and vice versa (308). In the scope of highly commodified processed food, +it is approximately proportional to its price or scarcity. Rationally, it makes +more sense for a consumer to opt for an ingredient higher in status, given the +fact that potato chips of common flavors cost roughly the same. Salt and vinegar +as fundamental kitchen seasonings are both low in cost, and unlike fresh produce +they are usually bought in bulk once every few months. Though poured into +a large number of Chinese dishes, they are rarely considered vital. Except for +a handful of special recipes, few would lay as much scrutiny on them as on the +vegetables and meat. A flavor simply named “salt & vinegar”, as a consequence, +is evaluated by Chinese consumers with a pinch of salt, and fall onto the +unfavorable side of the spectrum for this reason. + +Another culinary practice consumers take into account is variety, that is, the +gamut of flavors that an ingredient is expected to be presented in. The wider it +is, the fewer expectations will be set when one is sampling a new kind of food +consisting of the ingredient, and the fewer judgments will be made should it +deviate from anticipation. The so-called cucumber flavoring in potato chips +contains, as the ingredient list on the package clarifies, white sugar, salt, +MSG, and a mixture of cucumber, cilantro, onion, vinegar, and soy sauce, giving +the chips a slightly mint-like relish which is a major drawback according to +those who abhor the flavor, most of whom living in a Western country. Throughout +history Chinese people have incorporated cucumber into countless dishes, simple +or fancy, cold or hot, insipid or savory, traditional or modern. This means the +Chinese are more likely to accept the diversity of its taste, and thus more +inclined to try cucumber flavored potato chips when given the opportunity. In +Britain however, cucumber, unless pickled, is more often considered a flavorless +fruit found in salads with little potential other than being eaten raw, and +those who encounter the rebellious, mint-like version of cucumber flavor are +caught off guard. As a result this culinary underdevelopment and +underappreciation contributes to the fact that very few kinds of processed food +in Britain are available in cucumber flavor. + +Last but not least, it is combination that amplifies judgment. In every cuisine +there are unwritten rules which decree that certain ingredients may or may not +coexist. Defying the rules is dangerous, as a wrong combination can form an +unwelcome flavor that local people have never adapted to, and will not accept +anytime soon. Salt and vinegar is one of such combinations; they rarely pair up +on a Chinese recipe. Although some dishes do require the presence of both, +additional seasoning is usually added. What people expect to accompany vinegar +is usually not salt, but sugar, as evidenced by the classic Chinese dish _tangcu +paigu_ (pork ribs in sugar and vinegar), most of whose salty taste comes from the +brewed soy sauce (_shengchou_). The combination of salt and vinegar without +a third companion would therefore disappoint Chinese eaters with blandness, in +other words, the lack of “richness” most Chinese dishes strive to accumulate. + +Each of the four reasons listed above is capable of explaining certain phenomena +pertaining to potato chips. But if we were to inspect one phenomenon +specifically, some reasons would fail. For instance, our first reason, namely +familiarity, does not play a dominant role in affecting the popularity of salt +& vinegar flavor in China. Otherwise, the flavor would be extremely widespread +in China due to their abundance in a Chinese kitchen and appearance in thousands +of recipes. Therefore, their failure to gain market share in China suggests +there must be something inherently unpleasant to the Chinese palate about this +flavor, which is why we resort to the theory of combination. + +What is manifest here is that when a region makes its first encounter with an +exotic flavor, culinary practices are the jury that examine whether or not the +flavor belongs to local culture. Now the subsequent question is, if it does, for +how long will it persist? The answer is surprisingly tautological in a way: The +longer it has been, the longer it will be. To explain this we look at the +history of the processed food, which matters because the assessment of a taste +is formed upon historical ethnographies (Shapin 177). We can compare flavors of +processed food to residents of a housing estate: Young dwellers come and go, but +elder inhabitants rarely leave. In the same vein, the “elder” flavors assert +their dominance in a market by being the first ones available, hence carrying +historical or, sometimes, nostalgic value. The original-flavor potato chips from +Lay’s Stax series are marketed as _zhongyu yuanwei_ (loyal to the original) in the +Chinese Mainland market. The fact that loyalty to a flavor can be established +implies its long history, which contributes to its unperishing popularity. +Cucumber flavored potato chips are documented to have been sold in China since +2004, which is 17 years prior to the time of writing, a considerable timespan in +the history of China’s all-round modernization. It should come with no surprise +that contemporary Chinese consumers by and large take it for granted that +cucumber flavor is a legitimate and acceptable option for potato chips, and it +is no longer possible to discontinue it without a backlash from enthusiasts. +Though it is reasonable and often proper to attribute momentary blossom to +a fad, few can dispute the competence of a flavor that has endured for decades. + +As to why a region has its own set of preferences, and there is no such flavor +as a global favorite, we resort to the regionality of history. The countries +involved in food globalization can be classified as “inventors” and “importers”, +two terms I have contrived. The inventors define _what_ the food is, while the +importers have a chance to add their touch to _how_ the food will taste like by +rejecting some original flavors and creating new ones. In an inventor country, +the very first “classic” flavors tend to prevail. Potato chips were invented in +Britain in the 19th century; seasoning on potato chips emerged in the 1950’s in +the same country (Joe “Spud” Murphy n.p.) Among the first few flavors that +potato chips were produced in, there was salt & vinegar, which has remained +popular in Britain ever since. They achieve as much popularity as longevity, +eventually becoming an essential, unseverable part of the food itself. + +An importer country however, having missed the infancy of the processed food, +does not necessarily respect its history whence it came. Instead, it keeps its +own history relative to its time of arrival; it may also reject flavors that +defy culinary practices it has passed on as a form of cultural heritage and +demand a local variant to its own need (Pilcher 33). Venerable flavors in an +inventor country thus lose their natural advantage once imported, and relatively +recent flavors developed in the importer country find them less challenging to +contend with and eventually overtake. To some extent, domestic flavors +compensate for the exotic ones that failed the race, and the result is +a distinct set of naturalized flavors that adhere to local culinary practices, +formed gradually over the course of a shifting equilibrium. + +One could argue culture and history are not as important as they used to be in +affecting the popularity of a flavor in an importer country. This is true, since +the advent of big data and high internet coverage have made consumer preferences +on social media over the past month crystal clear to merchants, whose only duty +is to produce the trending flavors as quickly as possible (Cavish n.p.) What was +once an inconceivable feat is now the norm. Being novelty-driven and built upon +consumers’ curiosity, these extraordinarily creative flavors tend to be +short-lived and reach out to an audience consisting of barely anyone else than +urban young consumers. Hardly any of these flavors can achieve long-term +survival in such a saturated market. The short attention span of modern +consumers and social media is to blame, but the ultimate reason lies within the +flavors themselves. They have never been domesticated, that is, adapted to the +local palate, and given such a short lifespan, it is most likely the case that +they will never be, before they are flushed away from the market. My best +attempt at a metaphor here is a zoo: Visitors may admire the wild, “novel” +animals on display, but few will keep one as a pet. In the long run, only +flavors that truly respect local culture will receive the visa for a permanent +stay, and then establish loyalty. Therefore, even in contemporary times, novelty +and viral marketing cannot override culinary practices and history. + +Junk food as potato chips are, they are an epitome of how a processed food is +globalized and, as I have analyzed in this paper, how its flavors are assessed +by consumers inside and outside of its birthplace. The reasons listed are not +exhaustive, nor can I claim my theories to be comprehensive. I have certainly +overlooked many intrinsic complexities of food globalization, and due to my +limited knowledge and a Chinese background with chiefly Euro-American influence, +my arguments may be overturned once a third culture is taken into account. +Nevertheless, I hope this paper serves as food for thought for whoever wishes to +investigate this subject in greater detail. + +## Works Cited + +- Cavish, Christopher St. “Durian Pizza: When Big Data Writes the Menu.” + _Radii_, 22 February 2018, + [radiichina.com/durian-pizza-when-big-data-writes-the-menu](https://radiichina.com/durian-pizza-when-big-data-writes-the-menu). + Accessed 4 December 2021. + +- “Joe ‘Spud’ Murphy: The Man Who Gave Potato Chips Flavor.” _HuffPost_, + [www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-spud-murphy-the-man-w_n_1437270](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-spud-murphy-the-man-w_n_1437270). + Accessed 20 November 2021. + +- Pilcher, Jeffrey M. “‘Tastes Like Horse Piss’: Asian Encounters with + European Beer.” _Gastronomica_, vol. 16, no. 1, 2016, pp. 28–40. + _JSTOR_, + [www.jstor.org/stable/26362318](https://www.jstor.org/stable/26362318). + Accessed 29 November 2021. + +- Rath, Eric C. “Historical Reflections on Culinary Globalization in East + Asia.” _Gastronomica_, vol. 17, no. 3, 2017, pp. 82–84. _JSTOR_, + [www.jstor.org/stable/26362463](https://www.jstor.org/stable/26362463). + Accessed 28 November 2021. + +- Shapin, Steven. “The Sciences of Subjectivity.” _Social Studies of + Science_, vol. 42, no. 2, 2012, pp. 170–184. + +- Warde, Alan. “Eating Globally: Cultural Flows and the Spread of Ethnic + Restaurants.” _The Ends of Globalization: Bringing Society Back In_, ed. + Don Kalb et al., Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, pp. 299–316. |