Food Thoughts

Nineteen months in, and I'm still adjusting to the drastic career change from teacher to stay-at-home-mom. I'm getting used to the fact that I have a high energy kid that needs to be intellectually stimulated at all times. I've also accepted the challenges of having a kid in an Asian city rather than an American suburb (it's very different).

I know it sounds weird, but my biggest struggle in all of this is the ability to prepare my family a meal each night.

Being a Midwestern girl, I grew up on a diet of meat and potatoes washed down with a nice tall glass of milk. Yum! Today, research is showing that we don't really need to be eating that much meat, or carbs, or dairy, or gluten.....or whatever. Maybe the food pyramid isn't even the best nutrition guide either.......Whatever.

I'm not that ambitious to have my family eat [insert trendy dietary habit here]. I live in China. Pesticides and food scandals are my concerns. Such as: Is this shrimp injected with gelatin?

Before having kids, Josh and I didn't think too much about the food we ate here. "Oh it's probably fine"or "We won't be eating this long term, so it won't hurt," we'd say.

Our little boy is a game changer.

Maybe in the US, eating organic is better. Sure. I can accept that and a commend those who do it.
My thought (and a lot of others') in China: what's the point in trying to have an organic farm when the soil, water, and air are so polluted anyway. Some claim that these Chinese organic foods really aren't better despite their hefty price tag. I heard a story about a local farmer whose expatriate friends pushed for him to get into organic farming. He told them basically it's pointless to do in China because of the pollution. But then, there was a high demand for "organic produce" so he went ahead and jumped on the bandwagon.

And I'm straight up paranoid. I've seen how food is handled in the fresh market; meat vendors chain smoking over their chopping blocks and coolers. As cliche as it may sound, I once heard meowing in a restaurant's kitchen. True story. Also, I've seen enough cockroaches and rats in this city to last me a lifetime.

Option 1: pay more for "organic" food from China and hope that whoever decided to call it that has integrity.
Option 2: eat local. It's cheap and YOLO right? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger....right? Or sick?
Option 3: buy imported food. Use all the money you have to buy comforts from home and imported fish and meats from all over the world. Again, believing that they are safer than Chinese foods and pretending you don't live in China.

It costs about $16 for one pound of imported ground beef from Australia. Western groceries cost anywhere from twice to five times the cost back home. I'm talking about things like cheese, cereal, canned or boxed pantry items. It's more cost effective to actually go out to a restaurant for spaghetti than it is to make at home.

What regulations does China have on their packaged foods? Is it the same as America and my only real concern is that I can't read the labels? Or do I have to be concerned that expired meat is still being sold? Or that there's melamine in the baby formula? Or... what?

It's hard to not be paranoid. When I think about this, I'm ready to jump on a plane straight back to America and never leave again. It's really stressful! I want what's best for my family, but what is that in this situation we are given? I cannot spend obscene amounts of money to cook the foods that I feel comfortable with (and convinced they are somehow safer). I also don't think it's wise to throw caution to the wind and ignore the harsh chemicals or pollution we may be ingesting with Chinese food.

I'm already counting my blessings that the terrible pollution has not caused my son to have asthma yet. And I'm continuing to pray that our short time here will not affect his health in the long term, in any way.

But seriously, thinking about food freaks me out. Every. day. I've really lost my appetite.

The fresh market in my old neighborhood

Note: I've come up with the above concerns from my own experience, by talking to other expat moms, and you know, Google. Take my advice: don't google Chinese food scandals. There's a wide range of what my other mom friends do here. Some do their best (and have the money) to only buy organic and imported foods. And others don't waste time worrying about the origin of their food and live in the moment. I just wish I could decide what's best for us, stick with it, and not worry about it anymore. In the meantime, I'll just be over here being a spaz.