Where does our food come from?

People in industrialized nations like the United States eat food that comes from all over the world. Such countries have the wealth to buy food products that are brought by plane or ship from far away. A wide variety of canned and packaged foods are available from every corner of the globe. And even fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, and meats can now be sped across oceans in refrigerated boats. So foods that were once rare treats are now available at nearly every time of the year, arriving from places with different climates and seasons. That means that the asparagus and strawberries you eat may be grown nearby or halfway across the world! Today, when you look in your cupboards, it can be like taking a trip around the world: you will see tea from India, coffee from Brazil, olive oil from Italy, and much more. In the past, people ate only the food that they could produce on their farms or find at their local markets. That is still true of many people who live in developing nations.