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Gastrodiplomacy Analysis: Vindaloo against Violence

In 2010, Mia Northrup of Melbourne, Australia, decided she could no longer sit ideally by as racially motivated attacks dominated her community and her larger country. Through Facebook, she urged 100 friends to dine at local Indian restaurants in order to show support for the Indian populations of Australia. Her event quickly spread through social media, leading to over 16,000 people registering to frequent Indian restaurants on February 24 in a campaign labelled “Vindaloo against Violence.” People showed up in masses: 17,000 people dined in Indian restaurants, not only in Australia but also in Thailand, The Netherlands, and Malaysia (Edwards, 2010; Ham, 2010).

Although the Vindaloo against Violence campaign was not initiated by a government, it contains all major trends identified in the gastrodiplomacy literature and incorporated international publics and international governments in its final event. It sought to use food as a transformational tool to engage a large audience and so, although not initially linked to a nation, can still be classified as a gastrodiplomacy campaign. The campaign emphasized the use of food as a tool of conflict mediation in that Indian food could create an environment for people of varying backgrounds to show unity toward diverse populations. Vindaloo against Violence also sought to improve the nation’s standing on an international scale because, with several racially-motivated, documented attacks, Australia began to be viewed by foreign publics as a country with undertones of violent racism. Finally, the campaign created large economic implications for the Indian community.

Dining with others allows you to learn about them and for them to learn about you--find someone with whom to enjoy a meal!

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