Why Corn–Not Rice–Is King In China - National Geographic

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That’s because as the human population moves to urban areas, its living standards increase. The Chinese middle class now has extra money to spend.

Source: FAOSTAT
Source: FAOSTAT

“As China urbanizes, the distinction between urban and rural lifestyles is blurring, since people travel back and forth between cities and their home villages,” says Fred Gale, a senior economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture who specializes in Chinese agricultural production.

Indeed, China now accounts for half of the world’s production and consumption of pork. Around 700 million pigs that subsist on diets of corn and other grains are butchered each year in the country—one for every two Chinese people. That’s pretty shocking when you consider that, before the 20th century, the Chinese population got over 90 percent of its calories from carbohydrates like rice, wheat, millet, and beans.

These increasingly meat-centric dietary changes are not unique to China. Animal proteins are becoming more popular across the developing world. But as the most populous country in the world with the fastest growing economy, China sets the pace, says Gale. And the road is currently paved with corn.

Corn isn’t exactly new to China, but a lot has changed since it was first introduced from the Americas in the 1500s. Cornmeal became a staple in the northeastern part of the country, where it was grown, but today people in the region view it as peasant food.

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