The Globalization of Mexican Cuisine in the United States

The globalization of Mexican food and drinks in the United States is extremely evident. Dishes such as chili, chips and salsa, nachos and burritos can be easily found almost anywhere in the U.S and has definately affected American cuisine. Over the years, however, Latin American food in the U.S. has adapted to fit the American culture. This style of food is called "Tex-Mex" or "Cal-Mex". Most American Mexican restaurants cook using this Mexican-American style.
There are many differences between traditional Mexican food and Tex-Mex food. First, Mexican food is not traditionally spicy, however, many Tex-Mex dishes are cooked using chile peppers to make them extra hot. Also, Mexican food in American restaurants are cooked using rediculous amounts of cheese. Using cheese with traditional Mexican foods is very rare. In addition, Tex-Mex food uses lots of sauces to complement the food, when traditional Mexican food does not. Finally, the portions of food in American restaurants are immense compared to the portions in Mexico.
Traditional Mexican drinks are also very popular in American culture. Corona, a Mexican beer is one of the top selling beers in the United States. Also, the Margarita, a cocktail using tequila, is a popular summer drink north of the border. These drinks are very popular on Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday also celebrated in the United States.
Mexican food seems to not only be popular in the United States, its globalization is evident in other parts of the world as well. William Gephardt, a German immigrant to the United States owned a tavern in San Antonio where he would serve German beer. Gephardt employed numerous Mexican workers in his tavern and they introduced him to chile, a traditional Mexican meat dish. Over time, Gephardt realized the Mexican chile complemented his German beer well and he began serving the two together. Today, twenty years later, Gephardt mass produces chile for sale to tourists visiting San Antonio. He still sells the chile out of his German tavern.
Mexican cuisine is become a staple to American society today. For example, Football is a popular American tradition, and chips and salsa, nachos and chile are some of the most popular foods to eat during a football game. So next time you go to Taco Bell, be thankful for the Mexican traditons.

Instructions for an awesome Cinco De Mayo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcwW6wQGyVQ


Works Cited:

"Kitchen Wisdom: Food Traditions and Globalization." NPR : National Public Radio . 29 Sep. 2008 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4136885.

"Mexican Food, America Eats, from Life in the USA: The Complete Guidefor Immigrants and Americans." Life in the USA: The Complete Guide for Immigrants and Americans. 29 Sep. 2008 http://www.lifeintheusa.com/food/mexican.htm.

Shiavone, Louise. "Some food from Mexico to face testing." CNN.com . 29 Sep. 2008 .

Images:

Image 1: Corona, a popular Mexican beer

Image 2: The Taco Bell Chihuahua

The Impact of Trade in the Globalization of Mexico

Mexico is a prime example when discussing the positives and negative effects of globalization. Since the early 1980's, Mexico has loosened trade barriers and restrictions on investments. They practically eliminated tariffs, making trade a vital part of their economy. In addition, in 1994, they signed NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) which helped Mexico's GDP to triple from 1980 to 1992. Clearly, international trade is a major part of the growing Mexican economy, but the effects of globalization in Mexico do not have a positive impact on all citizins.

Since the increase in globalization began in the 1980's, different areas of Mexico have had various levels of exposure. Northern Mexico has seen the positives of globalization. For example, in the mid-1990's during the peso crisis, incomes northern Mexico suffered much less than incomes in southern Mexico. This was because of the location of Mexico to the United States. Northern Mexico was able to trade across the border of the US. Unfortunately, labor earnings in southern Mexico have decreased by over 10% since the 1990's. In addition, the number of workers who can support their families in southern Mexico and stay out of poverty is still decreasing. Clearly Mexico is seeing all different effects of Globalization.

Another negative effect of globalization is drug trafficing. In September of 2007, Zhenli Ye Gon was arrested in the United States following the discovery of over 205 million dollars earned from selling cocaine and meth to people in the United States and other countries. Over the past few years the number of large scale drug trafficers from Mexico is increasing and it is changing the US market for illegal substances. The increasing demand for meth would not be occuring if people such as Ye Gon did not supply illegal substances at such a large scale.

While there are many positive effects of globalization, there are many negative effects as well. Globalization does not effect everyone positively, and a globalized world can result in negative trade. Hopefully in the future Mexico will work out their trade faults.

Works Cited

"Globalization and Poverty in Mexico." National Bureau of Economic Research. 24 Sep. 2008 http://www.nber.org/digest/apr05/w11027.html.

Porter, Eduardo. "The China Connection: Globalization and the Narcotics Trade - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 24 Sep. 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/opinion/02thu4.html.

Video on NAFTA Free Trade Agreement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wvOPBZoWZM

Image: A poverty stricken area in southern Mexico.

Posted 9/24/08

LAC Involvement in the Era of Globalization

Recently, it seems increasingly more common to hear news about Latin America on TV, radio, and other MassMedias. We used to think about South American countries as ones that lag far behind flourishing America, surpassing China, and "always in shape" European countries. But current rankings change our minds. The top 50 countries with the highest index of globalization include Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Since 2007 Venezuala, Colombia, and Peru are growing their economies by over 8% per annum.Increased prices for copper boosts the Chilean economy, which now occupies the leading position among Latin American countries considering Gross National Income.
International pressures and domestic policy reforms affected Latin America's involvement in the world trade and international investments flows. Nowadays, it playes an important role in the global competitive mode. Acception of free market policy has played a key role in its developement. International corporations such as the World Bank Group serves 30 Latin American Countries and has different strategies for meeting diverse and sophisticated needs in every region. In Chile, for example, the Bank supports the key areas—education, social protection, and innovation—that are part of the country’s overall strategy to ensure high growth with equity. In Bolivia, Haiti, and Honduras, low income countries, the Bank focuses on strengthening economic governance, creating jobs for the poor, and improving basic services. The data from the World Bank economic overview approves its positive affects on Latin American countries:

• With a $300 million loan, the Bank is helping Argentina to expand Plan Nacer, which reduces infant mortality by increasing access to basic health services for uninsured mothers and children.
• A $200 million loan to Colombia will fund health insurance for 13.7 million poor people and provide access to nutrition programs for 400,000 children.
• The portfolio of 13 active projects in support of countries’ efforts to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS totaled $150.1 million.
• The Bank worked with local partners to create the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, the world’s first multicountry catastrophe-insurance pool, which will help participating countries recover more quickly from hurricanes and earthquakes. IDA provided $23.2 million to help poorer Caribbean states participate in the facility.

We cannot be absolutely confident about positive influence of globalization on the economic situation of Latin American countries. Some scholars argue that globalization prevents internal national market from development; international corporations take advantage of cheap labor in the countries of old World and get a big profit;Integrity of trade erases political boundries,affecting national cultures and traditions. The world's environment is worsening also. Despite all these negative statements, we have a chance to judge the affect of globalization by looking at the data. Latin American markets are more than ever competitive with world market giants. The local economy is in its prime - global competition makes local suppliers keep prices low, people of the old world have better choices of products, and they benefit from better living conditions than 20 years ago.

Images:
Image 1: A picture of the World Bank.
Image 2: A picture of Santiago Chile, a growing city.

Work Cited

Dreher, Axel; Noel Gaston and Pim Martens, 2008, Measuring Globalization - Gauging its Consequence, New York: Springer.

Santiago: Layer of Smog. 10 Sept. 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 10 Sept. 2008 .

World Bank. "America Latina and the Caribbean Regional Brief." Www.worldbank.org. Mar. 2008. 3 Sept. 2008 .

World Bank: US no longer top donor. 15 Dec. 2007. Fortune Watch. 10 Sept. 2008 .

World Bank. "World Development Indicators database." Siteresources.worldbank.org. 1 July 2008. 3 Sept. 2008 .


Posted 9/10/2008