Ice Cream and Political Stability
Courtesy of Frederick Douglass Opie
More from our series on ice cream. In 2004 I took a group of U. S. students to Cuba as part of a study abroad course on Cuban History. Our hotel was just blocks from the famed Coppelia Ice Cream Parlor which is located in a park like setting that takes up an entire city block.. The Cuban revolution began in 1959 and the construction of Coppelia happened in 1960. At Coppelia one can purchase fantastic ice dishes inexpensively. In terms of gastro-politics, what role does food quantity and quality plays in a government’s support, stability, and longevity? How does change in food policy such as food subsidies shape political changes? I am thinking about for example the bread riots in Mozambique and the increasing long bread lines in Egypt that in part contributed to the revolutionary changes there.
