I was curious as to the dietary staples of the Middle East. Upon inquiring a Jordanian friend of mine, Rami, on whether rice is grown and eaten in huge quantities in the region, the answer was "no".
Why doesn't the Middle Eastern countries grow rice? Mesopotamia, the fertile crescent is one of the earliest areas to cultivate rice, yet one ponders why the present day Middle East does not continue this tradition.
At first I thought it was a shift in life style, something like the Second Consonant Shift in the German language, but instead of a change in language, there was a change in diet. One could come to the conclusion that the present state of food in the Middle East is just a natural evolution of habits, cultural interaction, climate. Upon closer examination, perhaps only the first two explanation can withstand scrutiny. Modern day Middle East is fully capable of growing rice, despite people routinely mistakes the Middle Eastern countries as being full of deserts.
When I posited habits and cultural interaction as factors in the change of diet in the Middle East, I wasn't expecting the answer to be so cynical. Today, the only Middle Eastern country that grows rice is: Iran. Another country is just starting to grow rice again: Syria. Rice growing is a method of exerting independence from foreign powers. When you start to grow your own food from the land, as oppose to relying on subsidized food imported by the express policies of the regime, the population gains a degree of autonomy.
Iran under the Shah did not grow rice, but now it is the biggest rice growing country in the Middle East.
Syria is only growing rice because it is afraid that the U.S. will embargo them.
The regimes in the Middle East lack the willpower to invest in their own agricultural system. Or anything else for that matter; no agriculture, no industry, everything is imported. The populace is kept dependent on the autocratic regimes that put the whole country on perpetual life support.
