“Americans are curious about the texture of everyday life in the Middle East because they rarely get to see it. I wanted readers to feel like they were sitting around the dinner table with me and my friends, hearing what average people really say and really think, [where] the dinner table is the best place to find out.” PeopleThinkingFeelsWantedMiddleReaderSittingMy FriendsTablesEverydayAverageHearingDinnerEastCuriousMiddle EastEveryday LifeTextureSitting AroundBest PlaceDinner Table Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“So much of what we see and hear about the Middle East focuses on what we call politics, which is essentially ideology. But when it comes to the Middle East, and especially the Arab world, simply depicting people as human beings is the most political thing you can do.” PeopleWorldHumansPoliticalCan DoHuman BeingsMiddleEastIdeologyMiddle EastArab World Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“In the Middle East, bread is so essential to everyday life that word for it in Egyptian Arabic is aish, which means life. It's always been the staple grain. But the predicament is that the Fertile Crescent, where wheat cultivation began, has now become the part of the world most dependent on imported wheat.” WorldMeanMiddleEssentialsEverydayEastBreadDependentMiddle EastGrainEveryday LifeWheatFertileCultivationEgyptianMeaning LifePredicamentsStaplesCrescent Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“If you look at the list of the top wheat importers for 2010, almost half of them are Middle Eastern regimes: Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Tunisia. Egypt is the number-one importer of wheat in the entire world. Tunisia leads the entire world in per capita wheat consumption. So it's no wonder that the revolutions began with Tunisians waving baguettes in the streets and Egyptians wearing helmets made of bread.” IfsWorldLooksMadeNumbersHalfWonderStreetsMiddleRevolutionIraqListsBreadRegimesConsumptionEgyptEasternWheatArabiaSaudi ArabiaSaudisHelmetLibyaMoroccoYemenTunisiaAlgeriaBaguettes Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“The Middle East is the only region in the world outside of sub-Saharan Africa where rates of malnutrition actually rose over the past decade or two, instead of falling.” WorldTwoPastFallMiddleRoseRateEastDecadesRegionsMiddle EastOver The PastMalnutritionSub Saharan Africa Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“There's a long history in the Middle East of "bread intifadas," starting with 1977 in Egypt, when Anwar Sadat tried to lift bread subsidies. People rebelled and poured into Tahrir Square, shouting slogans against the government just like they did earlier this year. Sadat learned his lesson and kept bread subsidies in place, and so did a host of other Middle Eastern dictators - many of whom were propped up for years by the West, partly through subsidized American wheat.” PeopleYearsLongGovernmentMiddleLessonsWestStartingEastBreadLiftsSquaresHostMiddle EastDictatorEgyptEasternSlogansShoutingWheatSubsidiesSadatTahrir Square Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“The problem is that so many of them are not getting told. This is a massive problem, not just in the Middle East but for places from Africa to Afghanistan. There are millions of stories out there, millions of potential Booksellers of Kabul or Valentino Achak Dengs.” StoriesProblemMillionsMiddleEastMassiveAfghanistanMiddle EastBooksellersKabulValentino Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“I'm optimistic, though. Now, with the Arab Spring, I think that people in the region are beginning to overturn some of these clichés, and Western editors are starting to catch up. We're seeing some exceptions to the stereotypes, like Elizabeth Rubin's great piecein Newsweek, "The Feminists in the Middle of Tahrir Square." But an article like that shouldn't be the exception. It should be the rule.” PeopleThinkingShouldSeeingMiddleSpringWesternStartingFeministOptimisticExceptionRegionsEditorsSquaresArticlesStereotypeArab SpringTahrir Square Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“So much of what we see and hear about the Middle East focuses on what we call politics, which is essentially ideology. But when it comes to the Middle East, and especially the Arab world, simply depicting people as human beings is the most political thing you can do. And that's why I chose to write about food: food is inherently political, but it's also an essential part of people's real lives. It's where the public and private spheres connect.” PeopleWorldWritingHumansRealPoliticalCan DoHuman BeingsMiddleEssentialsEastReal LifeIdeologySpheresMiddle EastArab World Author:Annia Ciezadlo
