(Timothy Neesam/CBC)

By Amber Hildebrandt, CBC News

"A lot of things are revealed over food," says Ron Wood.

The OCAD University professor is intrigued by what world leaders will be chatting about when they gather for the G20 Summit in Toronto this weekend. And he's even more intrigued by what a culture's food says about its economic situation.

To that end, he decided to take this week off work and blog his way through meals representing the major economies who are part of the Group of 20, which includes 19 countries and the European Union.

Each blog entry contains a lesson learned - or an idea worth pondering - when the leaders congregate for their semi-annual meeting. He thought the blog would be a nice, lighthearted counter to all the serious news coming out of the G20.

CBC photo editor, Timothy Neesam, and I joined Ron and his wife, Annie, for a meal of tamales and fried tacos at the bustling Kensington restaurant, Latin America Emporium.

After that excursion, Wood mused on his blog about the recent overturning of Mexico's ban on GMO corn:

Tamales and other corn-based products aren't on the G20 agenda, but maybe they should be. Up until this year, GMO corn seed was prohibited in Mexico, which is the birthplace of corn and where more than 55 native varieties are grown. The economic downturn changed that.

Read the story: G20 countries, 1 meal at a time

What do you think a country's food says about its culture and economy? Tell us what lessons the G20 could learn from a feast on a variety of countries' staples. Here's a list of the G20 countries.

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