Foodie culture is now part of foreign policy — It’s Gastrodiplomacy

Thai restaurants are abundant and popular in many parts of the world. This has a lot to do with the Thai government actively promoting Thai food overseas for more than a decade. The strategy has been so successful that it inspired a new trend in foreign policy: gastrodiplomacy. And food isn’t just a diplomatic tool for governments. There’s a new kind of gastrodiplomacy on the rise, one that’s led by people who have left their governments behind. Quartz News went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the refugee capital of America, to visit a 25-year-old gastrodiplomat who fled war in Somalia, rebuilt his life, and connects neighbors through his mouthwatering Somali samosas. -- Become a member of Quartz, your exclusive guide to the global economy: WATCH OUR EXCLUSIVE SERIES; Because China Quartz is a digital news outlet dedicated to telling stories at the intersection of the important and the interesting. Visit us at to read more.