Photo: iStockphoto
We took our visiting 12-year-old granddaughter out to dinner last night, and she insisted on ordering edamame, which I too love. I discovered it at age 60 and would never have seen it in the U.S. at age 12 in 1955. Earlier in the day, I had bought a cherimoya at the local grocery store. These examples illustrate an additional benefit of globalization — the import of new foods and, more important perhaps, information on and even local growing of different foods. Since there’s evidence that variety increases utility, this expansion is an additional, typically unacknowledged benefit of globalization. I wonder how many other foods simply did not exist in the U.S. 50 years ago?
and 
. You can also watch it on 
Bananas! They’re a little older, but didn’t hit mass appeal in the USA until the 20th century! So ubiquitous now!
What do you think of Barry Schwartz saying that actually “More is Less”??? Sometimes having too much to choose from leaves you with a bitter taste of “did I choose correctly?”
Granted, I grew up in a small Ohio town, but I remember thinking shrimp was a luxury food until the early 90s, and Red Lobster was a once-a-year treat. I think domestic supply chains have revolutionized food consumption just as much as globalization.
Edamame (soybeans) have a long history in the US.
“A number of states were active in the early 1900s with soybeans…..”
http://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/illinois.php
You only recently discovered them? Hmmm
Seems like eating edamame is a cultural phenomenon more than anything. In the US, soy beans are a huge cash crop along with corn and wheat.
I used to eat these out of the farm field next to my dad’s house 25 years ago. We called them Soy Beans. I think globalization may have changed our marketing more than anything.
Sriracha would be a good example of both a benefit, benefactor from globalization.
I think green tea is pretty recent too.