Great piece on gastrodiplomacy
Just wanted to share a good link. Paul Rockower, who I mentioned in my post on Gastrodiplomacy, recently had a piece on the very subject published in the online magazine called Nation Branding, where he writes about Taiwan’s efforts to incorporate gastrodiplomacy into their diplomatic relations. Rockower is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, researching Taiwan’s Public Diplomacy.
Here is it is: http://nation-branding.info/2010/07/21/branding-taiwan-through-gastrodiplomacy/
Excerpt:
“At home in Taiwan, the government is planning on establishing a new Taiwanese food foundation- a culinary think tank that will assist coffee shops and restaurant chains that promote Taiwanese foods abroad. The creation of such an institute could not come at a better time. Recently NPR’s Morning Edition featured a story of the immense popularity of Taiwan’s coffee store 85C, which recently set up shop in Irvine, California.”
woohoo, something of importance to the world is happening in Irvine, California (may be the only reason I chose that particular excerpt)!
In all seriousness, however, the fact that the Taiwanese government has chosen to put their effort and even investment into the creation of such a foundation is a good indicator that gastrodiplomacy is an important means of cultural communication.
