With 2008 coming to an end, it's time to review things over the past year. And food glorious food is the order of the day.

Zhang Wan has the story.

2008 was the Chinese year of the rat, proving unlucky for some rodents in Vietnam that ended up as rat soup. Nguyen Kim Hung hunts rats for a living.

Nguyen Kim Hung, rat eater
"Rat meat is very delicious. It tastes like rabbit. Actually, it is more tasty than rabbit. Some people compare it to chicken but I find it even more delicious than chicken. It makes my mouth water!"

In northern Thailand, insects rather than rodents are on the menu. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says that some insects, in their dried form, have twice the protein levels of raw meat and fish. And many insect larvae are not only rich in fat, but contain important vitamins and minerals.

A workshop in northern Thailand brought together fans of insects as food and agriculture experts in February to explore the food source potential.

Insect food stalls are a common sight there, serving water bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, ant eggs, bamboo worms, silk worms and many more.

But in the United States, a trend in small sugary treats has taken food lovers by storm, from the cupcake craze to frozen yogurt and now designer doughnuts and macaroons.

The 2008 Restaurant Industry forecast indicates 'bite-size' desserts are the number one trend in dining in 2008. Bite-size desserts are presented as an item of luxury, and are distributed in only the sleekest of packaging and locations.

Pastries and other French treats are also growing in popularity in Shanghai, thanks in part to the French people who have been pouring into the city in recent years.

Philippe Ricard, originally from Brittany, brought a regional dish to China last year when he opened a restaurant. Most of the ingredients he uses are imported from France, and he even has a chief chef from Brittany.

"The Chinese are very open and generally very welcoming. They love discovering new things. "
Countries like Italy, Greece and Spain are also succumbing to the fast pace of 21st century life, as fast food and snacking take their toll on the health of people across southern Europe.

The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization says in the 40 years before 2002, daily calorie intakes in countries like Greece, Italy and Spain increased by 30 percent, 10 percent more than in northern EU countries. Josef Schimdhuber is a senior economist of FAO and the author of the report.

"The level of overall fat in the diet in all Mediterranean countries has now exceeded 30%. And for some of them its 40%, like in Spain. So that's by far too much fat in the diet".

The agency noted that many people in the Mediterranean no longer follow the diets of their ancestors, even though countries like Spain are pushing for their traditional recipes to be added to the U.N.'s list of protected world cultural treasures.

For China Drive, I am Zhang Wan.