The Evolution of Korean Food

Korean Traditional FarmingKorean food continues to grow in international popularity, however, few

people venture outside of Korea's major cities to have a firsthand experience with the true origin of Korean food culture. With Korea's fast moving

economy, huge restaurant industry, and impressive speed of industrialization, it is hard to think of an area that is not expanding in the country. Outside of Seoul, the world's second largest metropolitan area, you can find a culture of people that continue the farming and food processing of their ancestors. The majority of farms are still small-scale family run operations with fields ranging

from 2.5-5 acres. In these small farm villages, kimchi and soy sauce are still fermented in clay pots that have been passed down for generations.

Restaurants serve local food that is picked from Korean fields the same day.

Think about it!

• Do you have any experience with Korean traditional farming?

• Did your ancestors practice traditional farming?

• Is it important to keep these traditions?

Diminished Self-sufficiency• In Seoul, many restaurants will serve kimchi made in China, beef from the US, Chicken

from Brazil and pork from Cambodia. Imported products are sold cheaper than domestic products; and making a living from agriculture and artisan food production is becoming increasingly difficult. Korean farmers have protested the liberalization of agriculture for decades but the government is continuing to pursue further free trade agreements with large food exporting nations/regions such as Chile, the EU, Australia and the US. As a consequence, food self-sufficiency has dropped to the lowest level in Korean history. Even rice, the staple of all staples, has seen its level drop to the lowest level in modern history.

• In addition to free trade agreements, a number of other factors have contributed to the country’s diminished self-sufficiency. Reduced agricultural subsidies, high debt and low food prices are putting farmers under intense pressure. Farmland is also decreasing at alarming rates as the government is incorporating more and more of the country’s already limited farmland into commercial and industrial mega-development projects and recreational “green spaces” for urban dwellers seeking to get away from the city on weekends. As a result, South Korean farmland has diwndled to the lowest levels since 1970.

Think about it!

• What do you believe is more important the development the development of the free trade agreement or sustainment of traditional Korean Farming?

Korean Food

Favorite Food!

• What is your favorite Korean Food? Describe it. Why do you like it?

• What is your least favorite kind of Korean food. Describe it. Why don’t you like it?

Fusion Foods

• Fusion cuisine is cuisine that combines elements of different culinary traditions. Cuisines of this type are not categorized according to any one particular cuisine style and have played a part in innovations of many contemporary restaurant cuisines since the 1970s

• Fusion food is a general term for the combination of various forms of cookery and comes in several forms. Regional fusion combines different cuisines of a region or sub-region into a single eating experience. Asian fusion restaurants, which combine the various cuisines of different Asian countries, have become popular in many parts of the United States and United Kingdom. Often featured are South Asian, East Asian, and South East Asian dishes alongside one another and offering dishes that are inspired combinations of such cuisines

Talk about it!

• What is your experience with fusion food in Korea?

• What do you think about the concept of Korean fusion dishes?

• What is your favorite kind of food? • Describe a fusion eating experience if you

have one.