You probably eat a lot more avocados than your parents did a few decades ago. Same goes for papayas and bell peppers. It might be because you have a refined palate or because you've gone and become a foodie, but really, you also have NAFTA to thank.
It's easy to think of changing tastes as being just that — ephemeral shifts that just sort of happen. But trade policy has a hand in what's popular, helping to drive food trends. A new report from the Department of Agriculture (first reported for NPR by author Tracie McMillan) sheds some light on just how much the American diet has changed since NAFTA.
A huge influx of Mexican produce
NAFTA, the trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico implemented in 1994, loosened tariffs and rules on a variety of goods, allowing them to flow more freely across our northern and southern borders. And when that happened, it made some previously tough-to-find foods more available to American eaters year-round.
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