Feeding the World Once Brought the US Untold Influence—No More
Wheat, corn and soy surpluses were once a powerful tool of American statecraft. Now other agricultural superpowers are filling the void left by the country’s waning exports.
US bounty on display at the 1957 International Trade Fair in Zagreb.
Source: National Archives
When the International Trade Fair descended on Zagreb in 1957, the surprise hit wasn’t the helicopter rides or machinery displays, but a life-size, functioning replica of a US supermarket. Constructed as the centerpiece of the US pavilion, the aisle-by-aisle re-creation overflowed with fresh fruits, vegetables and meats that had some visitors in what was then Yugoslavia staring in wonder.
Spotlighting America’s agricultural abundance as Cold War tensions rose was no fluke. Who needs propaganda campaigns on the evils of communism? Just show consumers behind the Iron Curtain that, in a capitalist economy like the US’s, you didn’t have to line up for hours to shop at stores with empty shelves.