In this essay I had to do research on my assigned topic, pizza, and discuss a certain aspect of the subject based on my research. I decided to based my research mostly on how globalization changed the views people had on pizza.

Pizza, Migration and Globalization

Pizza, a synonym of spending time together with your family and/or friends. Pizza is always seen as the best food to get/eat with people as it’s the easiest food you could order and get ready to serve right at your doorstep. But it wasn’t always like that, pizza wasn’t always that easy to get food that people wanted to eat with their families and friends. Although throughout its history, pizza has changed its perception without changing its essential form factor. So how did pizza become the food that we all know today? Well, the answer is not as easy to tell, this essay will explain how the perception of pizza has changed throughout history thanks to immigration and globalization.

​The origins of pizza dates back to 18th century, to a disunited Italy, more concretely the region of Naples. At the time, the region was suffering from political tensions that lead it to scarcity of food and therefore to rationalization of food. Pizza was created from 3 basic components: flatbread, cheese and tomato sauce, and it was not viewed with good eyes as it was food created for the poor and that was eaten in a grotesque manner (Helstosky 2008). Pizza was easy to make, eaten with your hands and made for the poor which really didn’t give it much popularity and was hated across other regions. However, pizza has another aspect to its origin, as it also comes from globalization. Because of globalization, tomatoes were introduced to Italy from Central and South America through trade made by the Columbian Exchange in the 16th century (Helstosky 2008; Rugnetta 2016). This means that globalization has played a key role for pizza since its origins. Regardless of this, pizza did not become as well known during this time period as it is known today, instead it would take over 200 years for the dish to become really popular and as loved by many people as it is today in our common era.

​In the late 19th century and early 20th century a unified Italy saw the mass migration of millions of its people to the Americas, more concretely to the United States. These Italians wanted to escape from political tensions and the poverty that Italy faced at the time (Bitetti 2016; Donati 2013). This mass migration leaded to many Italians to settle in big cities such as: New York City, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia, where they created neighborhoods that were full of Italians. While in these cities, these immigrants decided to open shops and restaurants to help their fellow Italians get supplies and have something to eat (Zanoni 2018). Pizza restaurants or pizzerias where among the shops these Italians opened to benefit Italian immigrants, an example of this is the Lombardi’s pizzeria which was the first pizzeria opened in New York and in the United States (Rugnetta 2016; Helstosky 2008). The opening of these pizza restaurants  also gave Americans the opportunity of them tasting pizza for the first time, and it was the first time people other than Italians eated the dish. The dish itself was perceived with good eyes by Americans, since it was a very affordable dish that had a good taste. In the following years, many more pizza restaurants were opened in these big cities by Italian immigrants that came into the United States (Zanoni 2018). This did help them settle into the United States for them to live their new lives.

​Pizza was well known to be simple, it only consisted of cheese, tomato sauce, and flatbread. However, after its arrival and settlement in the big cities of the United States, it all changed. New types of pizzas were created, for example Chicago style pizza or New York style pizza. Pizza also had toppings added to it, such as pepperoni, bacon, ham, mushrooms and even pineapples, but this did not really change the definition of what was or what is pizza for the people that consumed it (Rugnetta 2016; Helstosky 2008). The changes occured in gratitude to the popularization of pizza in big cities in the United States. This all leaded people to start experimenting with the dish by creating different styles and adding different toppings into the mix, for example pizza restaurants such as UNO pizzeria created the Chicago style pizza and Lombardi’s is iconic for the creation of the New York style pizza (Helstosky 2008). However, all of this did not lead to an ultimate boom in pizzas popularity, as the dish was still mostly prevalent in cities with Italian immigrants. Pizza had not expanded to the western end of the United States, which meant its popularity was only in these cities.

​WWII brought help to the popularization of pizza, more concretely, after the world war ended, pizza gained a boost in popularity since American soldiers stationed in Italy ate from the dish and liked it a good amount. After coming home, these soldiers helped to make pizza more popular by demanding to have more of it, especially in western parts of the United States (Helstosky 2008). This all lead to many Americans to start their own pizza shops in other parts of the country, especially the west. And also more Italian immigrants migrated to the United States during this time, which also helped to open more pizza restaurants in the United States (Bitetti 2016; Donati 2013). Pizza was able to manifest its destiny and spread across all of the United States by the 1960s (Helstosky 2008). The popularity of pizza at this point went through the roof, it was seen as a cheap way to eat with family and/or friends. Furthermore, pizza still had more to it, In the 1960s Domino’s pizza started to deliver pizza to people’s doorsteps.This all changed the perception of pizza, not only was it cheap, it was also now brought to your house (Rugnetta 2016; Helstosky 2008). This all made pizza become a really profitable product for the United States, instead of only staying as an ethnic food brought by Italian immigrants in the early 20th century and late 19th century.

​Pizza was well known for being popular and also delivered to your house in the 1970’s in the United States. However, it soon after was also known for being a dish that is cheap, comes in different varieties and could be delivered right into your doorsteps to be enjoyed by family and/or friends in other countries. Since pizza became a really profitable dish for the United States, American pizza restaurant saw the opportunity to expand and opened their own pizza places in other countries. This gave the opportunity for countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and Australia to taste pizza and make it their own, since you could always add your own toppings to pizzas or create your own style (Helstosky 2008). Globalization and immigration have truly changed the way pizza is perceived today. Since its origins, pizza was a creation made from a product of trade and globalization, more concretely tomatoes. immigration helped to popularized in the United States and globalization made everyone fall in love with it and like it. The connotation, Pizza, may bring joy or happiness to people as well as for them to be able to spend good times with loved ones. All of this would have not been possible without the globalization and immigration that pizza went through for its development.

​In conclusion, pizzas perception has changed throughout its history, it has gone from being a food that was made for poor people in Naples during the 18th century to a dish that is associated with being family friendly and easy to get. Pizza still resembles its original design although it has had toppings and styles added to its composition. Its globalization through trade and immigration are the reasons why we see pizza as what it is today, a consumable good. If the columbian exchange did not bring tomatoes to Italy or if Italians would have not come to the United States or even if its popularization would not have increase in the United States, pizza would still be a poor peoples dish in Italy. Therefore, the reason why pizza is so popular and so well known to people is because of globalization and immigration, without them pizza would have not being what it is today, a really good food to eat with family and friends.

Words: 1402

Works Cited

Helstosky, Carol. Pizza: A Global History. Reaktion Books LTD, 2008. E-book.

​Rugnetta, Mike. “A History of Pizza in 8 Slices.” Youtube. PBS Idea Channel, 2016

​ Bitetti, Marge. “Italian Migration to USA Before, During and After World War 2.” Ancestorcloud Blog. Italian Genealogy, 2016

​Zanoni, Elizabeth. “Migrant Marquet places: Food and Italians in North and South America.” University of Illinois press, 2018. Jstor database

​Donati, Sabiana. “Political history of National Citizenship and Identity in Italy, 1861-19” Standford University press, 2013. Jstor database.

Annotated Bibliography

With the sources I had gather for the essay, I decided to make an annotated bibliography in which I listed down what I was going to use the sources that I had gather for in my research essay.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Carol Helstosky. Pizza: A Global History (Reaktion Books Ltd, 2008)

This source talks about how pizza was invented in Italy and how it is prepared in Italy. The source also compares pizza preparation in Italy to its counterpart in the U.S, from the ingredients used to how its being consumed. I could use this source to help me explain the origins of pizza and how it differs from its original state to the one that is being consumed in the U.S. I could bring out key differences that both types of pizzas have and why so.

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2. David Gentilcore. Pomodoro! A History of the Tomato in Italy (Columbia University Press, 2010)

This source talks about how Tomatoes were brought to Italy and how they were first used. It also leads to how it would be used in dishes such as pastas and pizzas to give them taste. I would use this source to specify how tomatoes got to Italy, also how tomatoes became a key ingredient in pizza.

​3. Elizabeth Zanoni. Migrant Marquet places: Food and Italians in North and South America (University of Illinois press, 2018).

This Source talks about how Italian immigrants brought their own types of food how they adapted to consuming new foods in the new world in the ending of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. It also mentions how they started restaurants in the new world for them to have their typical food. I could use this source to talk about how Italian immigrants adapted and brought their own eating styles to the new world , which leaded to the creation of restaurants and thus the creation of a marquet place for them.

​4. Salvatore j. LaGumina. Ethnicity in American Political Life–The Italian-American Experience (Sage Publications inc, Spring 1069)

This source talks about the mass migration of italian people to the U.S in the late 19th century, early 20th century. It talks about their experience as well as some reasons for them to have migrated. It also mentions what they did to first survive in the U.S. I could use this source to talk about how Italian migration brought Italian restaurants and Pizza to the Americas, which leaded it to become popular among people, and also change the perception pizza had.

​5. Sabina Donati. Political History of National Citizenship and Identity in Italy, 1861–19 (Stanford University Press, 2013)

This source talks about the political reasons on why Italians had to migrate to the Americas and leave some of their customs behind. The source also talks about the unification of Italy which could be said to be key in the creation of dishes such as pizza. I intent to use this source to give background on why Italians had to migrate to the new world and start a new life, which of coarse gave an upbringing to pizza and other Italian dishes.