Agribusiness futurism and food atmospheres: Reimagining corn, pigs, and transnational negotiations on Khrushchev's 1959 U.S. tour

• Published in: The Quarterly journal of speech 2020-10, Vol.106 (4), p.399-426
• Main Authors: Pezzullo, Phaedra C., Hunt, Kathleen P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agribusiness; agriculture; atmosphere; environmental privilege; Food; food systems; Futures (of Society); futurity; Transnationalism
• ISSN: 0033-5630; 1479-5779
• DOI: 10.1080/00335630.2020.1828605

Food and power are inseparable. This essay analyzes a significant moment in transnational food history. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's Cold War era 1959 visit to the United States has been recognized as pivotal in Soviet-American public affairs, as well as for Russian-Chinese relations. Yet, too often ignored is that destinations included a seed-corn farm operation and the Iowa State University Swine Research Center; Khrushchev's tour of these sites was a key to the broader global transition from agriculture to agribusiness. Khrushchev's charismatic hosts sold techno-scientific "efficiency" in seemingly magical ways, reflecting the "agribusiness futurism" discourse that bridged political economic tensions of the times. More than mere distraction, this essay demonstrates how carnival and agribusiness atmospheres-that were predicated on entanglements of elements from corn silage and news cameras to pigs and souvenirs-were vital to constituting the food fantasies of these men. Overall, we argue atmospheres are not all-encompassing, but dynamic and, at times, divergent.