Christmas damper on the barbie

Australia

Soda bread in the shape of a wreath made from wheat flour and baked on the barbeque. Australia is a major producer of grains like wheat and relies on crop protection products to control insects and mites.

Bacalhoada ao forno

Brazil

Oven-roasted salt cod with potatoes and garlic. Potatoes were domesticated in South America 7,000-10,000 years ago and thanks to plant science, they have evolved tremendously to resist bruising and browning as well as produce less of an undesirable compound (acrylamide) when cooked.

Barbequed pork

China

Pork tenderloin made with soy-based sauces and white wine. Herbicides have tremendously helped Chinese soybean growers better control weeds and fungicides allow for improved wine grape production.

Bûche de Noël

France

Flourless chocolate cake in the shape of a “yule log” rolled with chocolate whipped cream. Around 70% of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa. Farmers there rely on crop protection products to ward off insects and diseases because these pests can damage 30-40 percent of the crop.

Fufu and okra soup

Ghana

Usually made with cassava flour, fufu resembles sticky rice that’s formed into balls for the okra soup. A staple food for 200 million people in Africa, plant scientists are currently working on drought-tolerant cassava to cope with climate change.

Biryani with chicken and lamb or vegetables

India

Spiced rice-based dish made with meat or veggies. The use of fungicides, herbicides and insecticides in India has increased rice production by about 30 percent in recent years.  

Carbone dolce

Italy

A rock candy that looks like coal given to “bad kids”. Most sugar in Italy comes from sugar beet as the European Union is the world’s top beet producer. In the U.K. alone, fungicides have dramatically helped with sugar beet production. Plant scientists are working on nitrogen use efficiency in the crop as well.

Romeritos in Mole

Mexico

A leafy, wild Mexican herb that resembles rosemary is prepared with mole – a chili pepper-based, aromatic sauce. Chili peppers are Mexico’s most important vegetable crop and farmers need pesticides to protect peppers from 19 pests.

Puto bumbong

Philippines

A dessert made of sweet rice cooked in hollow bamboo tubes that’s spread with butter, sugar and grated coconut. Herbicides have significantly helped Filipino farmers control weeds in rice. Biotechnology led to the development of beta carotene-enhanced “Golden Rice,” which is in field trials in the Philippines.

Fried carp and pea soup

Poland

Pea and other crop yields in Poland have increased significantly due to access to and usage of pesticides as a result of joining the European Union. EU membership hugely boosted Poland’s agricultural sector financially.

Mince pie

United Kingdom

Apple-based pie made with dried fruit and warm spices. Pesticides are so important to the dessert apple industry in the U.K. that without them, it is unlikely any saleable crop would be obtained.

Turkey with corn stuffing and squash

United States

U.S. corn and squash production has significantly benefitted from biotech insect- and virus-resistant traits, respectively. Biotech drought-tolerant corn is helping U.S. farmers combat climate change.