SOAS Research Online

Abstract

An analysis of food consumption patterns in low-income and high-income countries reveals an unambiguous picture. Other things being equal, economic growth (defined in terms of rising per capita income) compels a fundamental transformation of the structure of food production in order to accommodate changing demand conditions. Evidence to the contrary is difficult, if not impossible, to find. In East Asia, the experience of Japan since the turn of the century and, more recently, of Taiwan and the Republic of Korea, serve to illustrate the point.