Gastrodiplomacy: Food as an Instrument of Cross-Cultural Understanding

Join Chef Nasser Jaber (Co-Founder of The Migrant Kitchen) and I-House Alumna Johanna Mendelson Forman ’69 (Adjunct Professor at American University’s School of International Service) for an interesting and informative discussion on the way food has become a central utensil in diplomatic toolkits across the world. Gastrodiplomacy is the practice of sharing a country’s cultural heritage through food, and is a type of cultural diplomacy based on the premise that the easiest way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach. Gastrodiplomacy is today in the academic world what we call “soft power”—a tool of persuasion. We will talk about how countries are branding their cuisines or their unique foods to track business and tourism. Click here to RSVP.