It may seem that the spice trade in ancient times and modern production of conventional foods have nothing in common, but many similarities can be found between them.

In modern times, corn plays a role similar to that of pepper about two thousand years ago. It turns out that corn (or some derivative of corn) exists, in one form or another, in nearly everything we eat. For example, chicken nuggets are a blend of multiple ingredients containing corn. Chicken, the main ingredient, is basically maize, since it is fed to animals instead of their natural food - grass. Nuggets’ other components also contain traces of maize; including corn starch, corn flour, corn oil, coloring, and citric acid that keeps the nuggets fresh. “There are more than forty-five thousand items in the average American supermarket and more than a quarter of them now contain corn” (Pollan, 19). Its presence is so widespread that conventional food production is practically a corn-based system. Obviously, pepper was as prevalent in ancient times as corn is now in the production of conventional food.

The second characteristic shared by both the ancient spice trade and conventional food production is that both industries are economically unsustainable. In ancient times, Romans possessed an enormous craving for spices. This obsession originated from the traditional spicy cuisine (Turner, 70) as well as the message that spices conveyed - wealth and power (Turner, 68). The Romans’ hunger for spices led to the eventual collapse of the whole country. Since Romans traded non-renewable goods (gold and silver coins) for the renewable ones (spices), they eventually ran out of means to satisfy their spice carving. This weakened the monetary value, and resulted in economic crisis (Turner, 80) followed by the downfall of the Roman Empire (Turner, 83). This clearly authenticates the notion that the spice trade was not able to endure.

Nowadays, industrial food production, based on maize, also deals with the issue of economic instability.  As corn began to take over more and more farmland, its surplus made its price drop. However, this didn’t make farmers plant less of it. Rather, they grew even more corn to try to make up the difference between the cost of production and the market price (Pollan, 39). Moreover, the American government’s policy creates further abundance.  More specifically, the government set a target price for corn, and if the price dropped below the target, the government gave farmers an alternative to putting their corn on the weak market, and subsidize it: farmers could take out loans from the government and use their corn as collateral (Pollan, 49). Undeniably, the ancient spice trade and production of conventional foods are not economically sustainable.

However, since the ancient spice trade and modern food production have common traits, and the first eventually collapsed, a question arises: Will the conventional food production also break down? I believe that it is possible. It is undeniable that nowadays people need conventional food, because it is both convenient and cheap. Even if the corn market - the basis for modern food production - faces potential downfall, the government will find new ways to support it. The cost of letting the market collapse is too high. Yet, what will happen if there is a economic recession grand enough to deprive the government of its means to support the corn market? A recession comparable to the one in Germany after the Second World War, when tens of millions had nothing to eat or wear is feasible. The Great Depression in the United States in 1929-1932, when the unemployment increased more than 600% could also happen. The industry will definitely break down. Until then, however, the conventional food production will still flourish as it has been for the past few decades.

To conclude, it may seem that the spice trade in ancient times and  modern production of conventional foods have nothing in common, but many similarities can be found between them. Both of them contain a dominant ingredient, and they are both economically unstable. One of them, the ancient spice trade, has already collapsed. The conventional food production, however, will still have to wait until the government runs out of means to support it, before it faces its own downfall.