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Maria Davis

Professor Aldo Patania

Business 300

18 June 2015

The USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015

“Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” is the theme of the 2015 World Expo

currently being held in Milan, Italy. Expo Milano 2015 provides an opportunity for

nations to exhibit their best and brightest ideas to the rest of the world; hosting a pavilion

at the Expo not only brings international attention to the nation and its culture, but also

opens a forum for discussion of issues surrounding global food production and hunger.

According to the World Food Programme, the United Nations’ food assistance agency,

around 795 million people (approximately 1 of every 9) do not have enough food to live a

healthy, active lifestyle. In sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of undernourishment is

even higher, with 1 in 4 people being undernourished (World Food Programme). These

statistics reflect an already strained food production and distribution system, but with

continued population growth, creating sustainable sources of food becomes an

increasingly pressing issue. The United Nations projects that the world’s current

population of 7.2 billion will increase to 9.6 billion by 2050, with the most rapid growth

occurring in developing regions, particularly Africa (United Nations Department of

Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division). This projection provides the basis for

the slogan of the United States’ Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015: “1 in 9 Billion.”

The official theme of the United States’ Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 is

“American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet.” The chosen theme embodies the

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purpose of the exhibit: to showcase the ongoing technological revolution of the

agriculture industry in the United States as a means to improve global food security. The

official website of the USA Pavilion details initiatives in farming, policy, cooking,

nutrition education, industry, and research to address the issue of food sustainability

(Friends of the US Pavilion Milano 2015). When viewed from the Internet, the USA

Pavilion appears to beautifully represent the United States as the powerful international

presence that it is, making effective contributions to the fight against world hunger and

striving to improve global health and security; however, the USA Pavilion as described

on the website is a stark contrast to the physical USA Pavilion erected at Expo Milano

2015.

The USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 is a relatively small, visually

unimpressive exhibit in relation to the nation’s position as a major player in international

business, likely due to the absence of government funding. As mentioned during the

guided tour of the pavilion, the USA Pavilion is the only pavilion at Expo Milano 2015

that is not at least supplemented by government funds; instead, the $60 million, 40,000-

square-foot space is sponsored entirely by private donations (Pipken). The industrialized

exterior, featuring a vertical farming demonstration that even includes a few dead and

browning plants, and the traditional barn-like interior constructed from the salvaged

remains of the Coney Island Boardwalk in New York City are blatantly disparate to the

sleek, futuristic designs of most other pavilions at the Expo. Italy’s pavilion, for example,

features an ultra-modern, aesthetically pleasing white-webbed exterior, and holistically

engaging experiences for the senses within. Regardless of the reasons behind the USA

Pavilion’s unexpectedly plain design, the exhibit provides a poor representation of the

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nation’s supposed innovative capabilities. The exhibit intends to reflect the United States’

plan to carry food production into the future, but its design is anything but futuristic,

instead hearkening back to the simplicity of traditional agriculture with the remnants of a

boardwalk that could not withstand the winds of an ocean storm. This representation then

begs the question: can the United States’ plans for the future of agriculture withstand the

winds of the brewing storms of explosive global population growth over the next few

decades?

According to the official website of the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, the

United States is addressing three pillars of global food security: availability, quality and

safety, and affordability. Six key exhibits within the USA Pavilion examine the methods

that the United States is using to address global food security: farming, policy, cooking,

nutrition, industry, and research. From the farming perspective, the United States is

implementing innovative farming techniques such as precision farming, which uses data

transmitted via satellite to monitor growing conditions; the tour of the USA Pavilion also

briefly highlighted this technological advancement in agriculture. At the public policy

level, the US government’s Feed the Future initiative encourages small farm production

in developing nations. The cooking exhibit highlights the impact that the evolution of

American cooking habits and consumption tastes have on global food production; for

example, the introduction of quinoa to American restaurant menus coincided with a

1200% increase in quinoa exports from Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador between 2005 and

2013 (Friends of the US Pavilion Milano 2015). Nutrition education programs such as the

“1,000 Days” project aim to improve nutrition for mothers and young children to prevent

not only general undernourishment but also malnutrition caused by an imbalanced diet.

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The industry station focuses on the infrastructure that brings food from farm to market to

table; this exhibit looks at the entire supply chain of agribusiness and innovations in

storage, transportation, and distribution designed to reduce waste and improve global

food security. The research exhibit focuses on objectives to develop new agricultural

products that are less vulnerable to climate changes: a vague, euphemistic allusion to

genetically engineered products.

Conspicuously absent from the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, genetically

modified organisms (GMO’s) comprise a significant percentage of the United States’

agricultural production. According to the United States Department of Agriculture

(USDA), 93% of all corn, 96% of all cotton, and 94% of all soybeans planted in the

United States in 2014 were genetically engineered (United States Department of

Agriculture). Although the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 strategically avoids

mention of GMO’s, GMO’s are undeniably a central focus of agricultural research in the

United States. In fact, DuPont, a major producer of genetically modified seeds, is a key

sponsor of the USA Pavilion (AL Press - The GCC Business News Agency). Although

scientific research has never linked consumption of GMO’s to adverse health effects, the

topic remains highly controversial. The European Union is particularly resistant to the

spread of GMO’s; it has implemented stringent safety assessment procedures and

labeling requirements for any food products containing GMO’s. As a result of labeling

requirements and limited market permeation, consumption of GMO’s in the European

Union is essentially a consumer choice; the structure of the European market provides

consumers with food product transparency and plenty of affordable alternatives to GMO

products. The United States’ food market is a distinctly different picture, however.

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At the agricultural level, the United States market is saturated with genetically

modified seeds; the economic and political sway of powerful GMO seed producers such

as Monsanto, DuPont, and DOW Chemical in combination with accidental cross-

pollination has made finding truly “pure” seeds nearly impossible (Dupont). It is

estimated that 60-70% of all processed foods in the United States contain ingredients

derived from GMO’s (Dupont). In addition, the United States does not currently require

GMO food products to be labeled as such, but has rigorous approval procedures in order

for products to be labeled as “non-GMO” (Center for Food Safety). Thus, the idea that

GMO consumption in the United States is largely by consumer choice, as stated at the

USA Pavilion and directly reiterated by Deputy Chief of Mission Kathleen Doherty in

her address at the American University of Rome on June 16, 2015, is debatable at best.

DCM Doherty later even contradicted her own statement regarding consumer choice

when addressing American agricultural exports to Italy; Deputy Doherty noted that

because American livestock are almost exclusively fed with GMO products, the meat

products exported to Italy from the United States are technically adulterated with GMO’s

and are not labeled as such. In essence, Italian consumers who expect unlabeled foods to

be free of GMO’s are unknowingly ingesting GMO adulterated meat imports from the

United States. Unfortunately American consumers do not have the luxury of even

expecting unlabeled foods to be GMO-free. Not only does a lack of labeling in the United

States make it nearly impossible for American consumers to differentiate between GMO

and non-GMO food products, but products marketed as “organic,” “natural,” and “non-

GMO” also tend to be considerably more expensive than comparable products that are

not guaranteed to be GMO-free. This further limits the ability of the consumer to choose

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a GMO-free diet, as higher prices essentially restrict foods that are guaranteed to be

GMO-free to individuals of higher socio-economic status. All of the crops being

cultivated at the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 are cultivated from Baker Creek

Heirloom Seeds, the same non-GMO seeds used to plant First Lady Michelle Obama’s

garden. In point of fact, very few Americans are able to live in the same way as Michelle

Obama; the notion furthered at the USA Pavilion that all individuals in the United States

can afford to grow and eat non-GMO food is blatant propaganda that distorts

international perceptions of the United States. Irrespective of the safety debate

surrounding genetically modified food products, the USA Pavilion simply paints an

inaccurate picture of typical American food production and consumption.

In addition to carefully avoiding the controversial topic of genetically modified

foods, the focus of the student ambassador guided tour of the USA Pavilion was not on

the technological agricultural innovations highlighted on the pavilion website, but rather

on a series of seven animated multimedia presentations designed to dispel international

stereotypes about American cuisine. The student ambassador at the USA Pavilion noted

that the traditional image of American food is one of fast food and oversized portions.

Although both are common in the United States, the pavilion presents a more varied

image of food culture that is distinctly American in “The Great American Foodscape.”

The first presentation distinguishes Americanized versions of foods traditionally

associated with other cultures including spaghetti and meatballs adapted from Italy, tacos

from Mexico, chow mein and chop suey from China, and hot dogs from Poland.

Barbecue from the American South earns its own presentation as an original American

food, as does the American culture of fast food and hand food to be eaten on the go.

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Thanksgiving, a holiday centered around the communal cooking and consumption of

food, is identified as part of American food culture, and the recent cultural shifts toward

locally sourced ingredients and traditional artisanal production processes are addressed as

well. Ironically, the final presentation focusing on the future of innovation in American

foods experienced technical issues and was unavailable for viewing, further emphasizing

the tour’s lack of emphasis on the USA Pavilion’s actual purpose: the United States’

efforts to spur technological advancement to increase global food security in the face of a

growing world population.

The USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 largely misses the mark; as the top

exporter of agricultural goods (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization,

Statistics Division), the United States is a major player in the global economy. In the

famous words of Winston Churchill, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” The

United States certainly has the resources and the ability to lead the way in global efforts

to improve global food security and ensure that future generations have access to safe and

affordable food products. The United States is indeed working toward this goal, as

exhibited in the numerous examples provided on the official website of the USA

Pavilion. However, the physical pavilion itself fell short in reflecting this progress to the

international community.

Expo Milano 2015 is an opportunity for nations to showcase their contributions to

a sustainable future; the enormous scale of the Expo itself reflects the high esteem with

which most nations regard this event. The absence of government funding for a USA

Pavilion at World Expos since the early 1990s indicates that the United States as a nation

does not hold the same view, and the lack of interest is evident in the manifestation of the

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USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015. By refusing to fully participate in this international

discussion forum, the United States limits opportunities for other nations to contribute to

its projects. Individuals from all around the globe attend the World Expo and leave with

an impression of the participating nations based on their respective pavilions, but the

impression Expo Milano 2015 guests will gain of the United States will be as inaccurate

as the international stereotypes the USA Pavilion claims to dispel. Presentation is equally

important to content, and the United States certainly has room for improvement at future

expositions.

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Works Cited

AL Press - The GCC Business News Agency. DuPont to Sponsor USA Pavilion at Expo

Milano 2015. May 2015.

Center for Food Safety. GE Food Labeling. 17 June 2015

<http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/976/ge-food-labeling/about-ge-

labeling>.

Dupont, Veronique. GMO corn, soybeans dominate US market. 4 June 2013.

Friends of the US Pavilion Milano 2015. Boardwalk Exhibits. 2015. 17 June 2015

<http://www.usapavilion2015.net/exhibits/boardwalk-exhibits>.

Pipken, Whitney. "2015 Expo Milan: At world’s fair, the U.S. pavilion is poised to

address the big issues." 11 August 2014. The Washington Post. 17 June 2015

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/2015-expo-milan-at-worlds-fair-

the-us-pavilion-is-poised-to-address-the-big-issues/2014/08/09/8578dbf8-1e79-

11e4-ab7b-696c295ddfd1_story.html>.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. "World

Population to reach 9.6 billion by 2050 with most growth in developing regions,

especially Africa." United Nations, 2013.

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division. "Top 10

Exporters of Agricultural Products." United Nations, 2012.

United States Department of Agriculture. "Genetically engineered varieties of corn,

upland cotton, and soybeans, by State and for the United States, 2000-14." United

States Department of Agriculture, 2014.

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World Food Programme. Hunger Statistics. 2015. 17 June 2015

<http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats>.