What To Eat...Or Not...When in China

So, with the pigs in the river and the world news' headlines of avian flu everywhere, the subject of meal preparation is the hottest topic on the playground.  Feeding a western family in China isn't the easiest endeavor on the best of days.  Chinese dairy has been out since the melamine controversy of 2008-2009.  Most expats here buy shelf-stable milk from France or Australia and imported cheese and yogurt.  Beef and pork are apparently chock-full of chemicals and not a regular part of many people's menus even if they aren't semi-vegetarian like us. Fish and seafood are dodgy here since we aren't anywhere near the sea and I promise you don't want to eat anything from the rivers around Beijing. Chicken and eggs are currently out of favor due to avian flu concerns.  I don't think that anybody can actually catch it from these products-- especially if fully-cooked-- but the school cafeteria has stopped serving chicken and ayis everywhere advise against eating eggs.

Fruits and vegetables?  Why yes, they are lovely and plentiful.  Grown in toxic soil with all sorts of sketchy pesticides, but lovely all the same.  They kinda/sorta have the concept of organic here, but even if they didn't use pesticides on them (which is doubtful since there is nobody regulating the "organic" products) they are grown in the toxic soil and watered by the toxic rain.  We definitely eat the fruits and vegetables because I'm a thousand percent convinced that skipping them is ultimately more harmful than eating ones with pesticide residue.  We just wash them well and peel the things that we can.

I tend to fare a bit better than some moms because we were mostly vegetarian even before moving here.  I'm used to coming up with dinner ideas that involve beans, tofu, veggies and grains.  The absence of meat products doesn't really phase me.  My kids grumble a bit, but they are also accustomed to eating a predominantly vegetarian diet. I do struggle to come up with meal plans that utilize the readily available ingredients here and do not involve purchasing pricey cheese or imported goodies that may or may not be available.  Ricotta and cottage cheese cost well over $7 for a tiny container.  So, lasagna is more of a treat food than a staple.  Oddly enough, you can generally find tortillas and other Mexican food staples almost everywhere.  Well, except for Monday when I needed them to make enchiladas for Chris' birthday.  Then all of the stores within walking distance of the house didn't have any.  Rice paper was in the location where they usually store tortillas.  And that is not the same thing....at all. Rice paper enchiladas anyone? 

People cope with food safety here in a variety of ways.  Some people eat everything. including Chinese meat and dairy, while others don't eat anything Chinese.  I know that sounds almost impossible, but it is apparently somewhat manageable if you eat only processed foods and the available imported meats, fruits and vegetables. We take the middle ground, as I always try to do.  I don't feed my kids Chinese strawberries every day...or even every week, but we do eat them once a month or so.  The kids love the apples here so they eat those a lot, but I try to buy the ugly ones since they seem more likely to have fewer pesticides.  I buy imported milk and yogurt since those are staples, but we do eat Chinese cheese and sour cream occasionally. 

I know we are super lucky to have easy access to so many familiar food stuffs.  Many of Chris' colleagues headed off to consumables post where Western goods are virtually unobtainable.  So unobtainable that the state department gives you extra weight in your shipping allowance so you can bring canned goods and favorite non-perishable foods with you.  Dining out is quite affordable here and we have a huge variety of restaurants.  I've had great Thai and Italian here and we regularly munch on burritos at The Avocado Tree - a shameless knock-off of Chipotle.  Oh, and as a shameless plug for visitors, you can dine on scorpions, larva, seahorse and all sorts of other delicacies.  Totally organic, I'm sure!