Bigfood Fatsquatch Shirt

At the Geneva Convention in 1954, Vietnam was split in two and many Northerners migrated to the South, bringing their recipes with them. In the South, the year-round sun makes the land more fertile than in the North. Cooks in the South began to add suddenly available produce like herbs, lime, and bean sprouts to the phở mix. The broth became spicier and more dominantly sour. This Southern-style phở has now become the international standard.foodImage source: i.ytimg.comAfter the American War, hundreds of thousands of Southern Vietnamese journeyed to other countries. Many of these immigrants made their living by opening restaurants and sharing their cuisine with their fellow immigrants, as well as their new compatriots.Beauty Through AdversityAs Vietnamese cuisine began to find a foothold all around the world, rice production hit an all time low back home. Changes to the structure of farming decreased motivation and led to widespread rice shortages.

Bigfood Fatsquatch Shirt

In addition to the low food production, much of Vietnam’s agricultural land had been damaged during the war. Rice paddies were laden with mines and Agent Orange had seeped into the soil. Nobody, not even those who had previously enjoyed the benefits of being in the upper echelons of society, had enough rice for three meals a day. People were forced to mix their rice with white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and sorghum, a grain known for being particularly difficult to chew. By the 1980s Vietnam was ranked as one of the poorest nations in the world.foodImage source: file.ejatlas.orgNow Vietnam has undergone a remarkable transformation and famine has turned to abundance. The country is the fifth-largest exporter of rice in the world. Vietnamese parents are now more apt to overfeed their children rather than underfeed them, because after all the years of malnutrition, a chubby child is now considered to be healthier and more attractive.