Wheaten foods play an important role in the everyday life of Taiwanese people. However, the mass introduction of wheaten foods to Taiwan and even Taiwan’s own domestic production of flour are fairly recent phenomena. During the mass migration of Han Chinese to Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty, rice-based foods remained a staple of the Taiwanese diet. Why did Taiwanese begin integrating large quantities of wheaten foods into their diet? The answer to this question is intimately linked to U.S.  aid. A story of food culture and U.S. Cold War cultural policy in Asia, this article features as part of our special issue: Encountering Everyday Life: Taiwan in Museums.

By Lin Sheng-feng (林聖峰)
Translated by Elizabeth Gardner
Edited by Yu-Han Huang, Matthew Mucha, and Sabrina Teng-io Chung 

This article was originally published by the National Museum of Taiwan History. It was translated and published with the permission of the copyright owner.

Wheaten foods play an important role in the everyday life of Taiwanese people. In food courts anywhere, it is not difficult to find a mouth-watering feast of wheaten dishes. From Western-styled spaghetti and cakes to Chinese-styled scallion pancakes, mooncakes, and even instant noodles and biscuits, wheaten food products are a common presence in our lives.

However, the mass introduction of wheaten foods to Taiwan and even Taiwan’s own domestic production of flour are fairly recent phenomena. During the mass migration of Han Chinese to Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty, rice-based foods remained a staple of the Taiwanese diet. Having rice porridge with side dishes for breakfast was a commonplace practice.

Some may ask, could it be that wheat culture was introduced by Mainlanders from China’s northern provinces in the 1950s? Perhaps - however, this explanation alone cannot account for the large number of primarily rice-eating Taiwanese that gave up this food as a dietary staple.

So why did Taiwanese begin integrating large quantities of wheaten foods into their diet? The answer to this question is intimately linked to U.S.  aid.

U.S. ECONOMIC AID TO TAIWAN

U.S. aid refers to the assistive measures that the United States provided Taiwan between 1950 and 1965. Through stabilizing Taiwan’s economic situation, U.S. aid aimed to consolidate the Western-Pacific front against Communism. Providing economic and financial assistance to other nations in exchange for their allegiance had always been a key strategy for the United States during the Cold War.

In terms of the purposes it serves, U.S.  aid can be divided into three categories: 

1. Planning aid: assistance with infrastructural-type construction, such as highways, hydraulic engineering, railways, and factory facilities (E.g., The Shimen Reservoir);

2. Training a skilled Taiwanese workforce; and

3. Material aid: providing large quantities of raw materials, such as soybeans, wheat, cotton, tobacco and milk powder. This aimed to alleviate the pressures of feeding post-war Taiwan’s suddenly inflated immigrant population, while also effectively suppressing price inflation.

Through these forms of aid, the United States successfully improved post-war Taiwan’s fractured socioeconomic status, rebuilding a new social order and lifestyle. The daily life of the Taiwanese people underwent a tremendous transformation in the process, largely in relation to agriculture and diet. 

THE AGE OF QUEUEING FOR FLOUR

When recalling U.S.  aid, the older generations of Taiwanese will often mention memories of flour sacks. In reality, the agricultural surplus the United States provided Taiwan was varied and plentiful, and the introduction of wheat transformed the eating habits of the Taiwanese population.

In the 1950s, it was a common sight to see lineups at the entrances of Taiwan’s churches; slight women holding their goods vouchers to exchange for items, and volunteers stationed in front of churches handing over several pounds of milk powder and flour to these women. These relief goods were donated by the United States, and  distributed by three religious organisations: Cathwel Service (天主教福利會), the Taiwan Christian Service (基督教福利會), and the American Good Faith Relief Service (美國世界信義宗教救濟會).

ASSEMBLING THE STRENGTH OF A NATION

Aside from those essentials distributed to impoverished families, these agricultural goods also fueled the development of Taiwanese light industry. For example, wheat imports sparked immense advancement in the flour industry, and cotton was used to nurture Taiwan’s textile industry. At the insistence of Yin Chung-jung (尹仲容), Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs, the United States later agreed to shift all their aid to wheat, instead of just providing wheat flour. Flour mills were supplied with imported wheat to develop light industry, and once Taiwan had garnered a taste for wheat-flour based goods, mass exports of rice at better international market prices provided income from overseas.

The official symbol of Sino-American cooperation (中美合作) was printed on this piece of collection (see the image below) , after the Taoyuan Flour Industrial Company (桃園麵粉工業公司) processed the wheat and bagged the flour. The standard measure of 22kg is an unusual number, chosen for roughly equating to 50lbs, and is still used on flour sold in Taiwan today. Once used up, thrifty Taiwanese would fashion the empty flour sacks into open-seat trousers, as the pure-cotton fabric is very light and breathable. These trousers bore the logo of Sino-American cooperation, the flags of both countries, and also the printed Chinese and English names of the wheat companies. 

Aside from helping stabilize Taiwan’s economy and advancing their light industry, another goal of these agriculture products provided to Taiwan was to seek out another foreign export market for American produce. The United States had been grappling with issues of excess domestic produce, especially from the 1920s onwards, and since the rice output of Asian nations had been struggling to feed their rapidly expanding populations following World War II, it provided ideal circumstances for the United States to dump its excess wheat.

In 1962, the Council on U.S. Aid (行政院美援運用委員會), then responsible for supervising U.S. aid, signed an agreement with the Taiwan Flour Trade Association (臺灣區麵粉同業公會) which represented Taiwan’s flour production industry. They jointly invested in the establishment of the Taiwan Wheat Products Promotion Council (臺灣區麵麥食品推廣執行委員會) in order to promote habitual use of wheaten foods in Taiwan. Promotion centers were set up in places like Taichung and Taipei, teaching people how to make Chinese wheaten snacks like xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and scallion pancakes.

To work alongside government wheat promotional policies, the periodical Harvest (《豐年》), issued by the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR; 中國農村復興聯合委員會), published one article after another spouting the benefits of wheaten foods. For example, they advocated the nutritional benefits of flour, even using diagrams to teach rural women how to make wheaten snacks at home, such as steamed buns, scallion pancakes and steamed flour rolls. Following the 1959 floods, this periodical even held some sampling events, using the relief flour provided to disaster victims to promote wheaten foods.

Since the women of rural Taiwan were targeted for advertising, the teaching of home economics became a call to action. Under the advice of both the JCRR and U.S. experts, a home economics faculty was established at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in 1953, the first of its kind in Taiwan. This faculty trained home economics teachers, while also aiding both the rural home economics instructors and those government and hospital nutritionists in the implementation of government policy. Housewives were taught new forms of home economics through educational seminars. With the dissemination of U.S. home economics knowledge, housework was no longer limited to just work of the hands, like cooking and sewing. Instead, it extended to specialist disciplines like nutrition, child rearing and education, house management, upkeep and sanitation, marital guidance, and household relations.

To better advertise wheaten foods, the Food Bureau of the Taiwan Provincial Administration (臺灣省行政長官公署糧食局) fully exploited these home economics students, along with their modern knowledge of nutrition. These individuals were at the forefront of promoting wheaten foods in rural areas. The Faculty of Home Economics at NTNU itself extensively promoted this dietary transformation, once even holding an exhibition on noodle production. This exhibition displayed the forty plus forms of noodle production, including some restaurant dishes, such as “coral noodles” that had carrot juice mixed into the dough, or Cantonese pan-fried noodles paired with cuttlefish, lean beef, bamboo shoots and pak choi.

IT’S SNACKTIME! BREAD, CAKES, BISCUITS, AND INSTANT NOODLES

With the support of the U.S. Wheat Associates, Western-styled breads and cakes were also promoted. Aside from passing an admittance exam, both Xu Huaqiang (徐華強) and Xu Guilin (徐貴林) were sent to the United States to study Western-styled baking, being tasked with passing on these baking techniques and nutritional knowledge upon their return. Some researchers described the Taiwan Wheat Products Promotion Council as “the Harvard of the Taiwan Baking World”, with it establishing a solid foundation for Taiwan’s baking industry.

Additionally, the flour industry also further developed many kinds of wheaten foods, such as biscuits. To support their own excess flour production labour, Uni-President Enterprises Corporation (統一企業) established the subsidiary company Lucky Biscuits Incorporated (可口企業), to work in cooperation with the Japanese company, Nissin Confectionery Ltd (日清製菓株式會社合作), in developing their new product, Lucky Butter Biscuits. In 1970, this type of coconut-flavoured biscuit containing high-quality cream officially appeared on the market. Aside from mass lottery promotions, a Lucky Biscuit amusement park was even established beside the biscuit factory, with bubbling fountains and pavilions perched on rocky outcrops. The Park is perhaps Taiwan’s earliest example of a ‘factory tour’.

Another product being pushed was instant noodles. Uni-President even sent personnel to Japan to study instant noodle production techniques, attempting to extend the reach of flour enterprises to the instant noodle industry. When they were first launched, early-generation Tung-I Noodles allegedly did not have any oil packets or dried meat, and their marketing could not compete with Taiwan’s then number-one instant noodle brand, Sunlih Noodles (生力麵). Only after taking inspiration from danzai noodles did they develop their now ubiquitous Tung-I Pork Flavor Noodles (統一肉燥麵).

Other than Tung-I Pork Flavor Noodles and Sunlih Noodles, Ve Wong (味王), who earned their name by producing MSG, also entered the production roster for instant noodles. In 1970, in cooperation with Japan’s Myojo Foods Co. Ltd. (明星食品株式會社), they began producing Ve Wong Noodles and Prince Noodles (王子麵). Before hitting shelves, the then chairman even emphasized that Ve Wong Noodles were designed for children, stating that the noodles contained various vitamins and proteins, and were thus an extremely nutritious food.

The emergence of these dietary changes was not simply the result of a natural evolution in everyday habits. Rather, it was more often intertwined with drastic changes in society.

In Taiwan, wheaten foods have become a staple rather than a rarity - a result of joint promotion by different parties. From an international perspective, along with the introduction of U.S. aid to Taiwan, the United States provided a source of wheaten goods to a nation that had not yet started producing its own wheat, while opening up an overseas market for agricultural produce to the United States. From a governmental perspective, encouraging the people of Taiwan to use flour not only assisted in nurturing the domestic flour production industry, but also allowed overseas export of higher-priced rice, bringing a mass return in profit. In terms of flour manufacturing, as exports to Southeast Asia produced unsatisfactory results, the introduction of wheat undoubtedly provided the perfect opportunity to create domestic demand.

Relevant museum collections: 

References:

An, Hou-Wei. U.S. Aid and Vocational Education in Taiwan: 1950-1965. Taipei: Academia Historica, 2010.

Liu, Chi-Wei. “International Food Regimes and National Diet: The Political Economy of Taiwan's Wheaten Foods.”  Journal of Chinese Dietary Culture 7, no. 1 (2011): 1-59.

Wang, Wen-Yue. “The HARVEST Rural Periodical and Agricultural Extension in Early Post-War Taiwan (1951~1954).” Kaohsiung Normal University Journal: Humanities and Arts, no. 30 (2011): 1-22.

Chen, Wei-chuan. “Research of the Postwar Taiwan Promotion of Wheaten Food (1945~1980),” M.A. Thesis, Department of History, National Chung Cheng University, 2009.

“Sunlih Noodles, The First Instant Noodles in Taiwan.” Access: September 8, 2020.