Uh-oh: Apparently South Korea has been running a kimchi deficit since 2006, and last year, imports increased by 5.9 percent, while exports plummeted some 16.3 percent, resulting in a “culinary cabbage shortfall of $28.1 million.” Quartz reports that the news might not actually be as bad as it sounds, however, because exporters generally attend to more profitable interests than kimchi. But because the traditions of making and sharing the fermented food were just added to the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December, we’re just a little worried about the future, and massive varieties, of the stuff. So after we finish up with our current baked-potato and biscuit-shop crazes, maybe someone could get around to opening an emporium for imported kimchi in NYC? [Quartz]
