HOME /  Number 1 :  How popular culture gets popular.

The Shrimp Factor

Americans love it now more than ever. Why?

(Continued from Page 1)

The American shrimping industry has also tried to fight back with a branding effort. The Wild American Shrimp campaign contends that shrimp caught in the Gulf of Mexico are tastier than shrimp raised in a Bangladeshi pond. But the strategy is problematic: Much of the shrimp consumed in the United States is either heavily sauced or deep-fried, so the nuances of flavor can be hard to distinguish. As long as breading and frying remains the preparation method of choice for American shrimp aficionados, Pimp C and millions of his fellow, less lyrically gifted diners probably won't sweat how and where their crustaceans were raised. Just keep 'em coming.

SINGLE PAGE
Page: 1 | 2
MYSLATE
MySlate is a new tool that lets you track your favorite parts of Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads you're interested in, and more.

Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired and a columnist for Gizmodo. His first book, Now the Hell Will Start, is out now.

Photograph © Philip Gould/Corbis.