Julia: I need to sleep earlier because I have class tomorrow.
Chang: Yeah, I should sleep earlier, too. *stuffs an Oreo into mouth*
Julia: Which also means we need stop eating so late.
Chang: Ugnghampppphhh
Today I had an appointment at a Western hospital in Beijing. Although I am many hundreds of USD poorer (hopefully only temporarily until insurance pays me back), I finally know what the fuck is wrong with my body. I have sinusitis and bronchitis, and the sinusitis’ post-nasal drip is causing my phlegm. I will take antibiotics and antihistamines. Now, China, was it that hard?
On my way home from the hospital, I found Jenny Lou’s, a western grocery store with inflated prices (haha, kind of like Whole Foods, but dirtier). I thought it would be appropriate to make myself feel better about spending a lot of money by spending more money. So I bought alcohol (rum), cheese (halloumi, cottage), cereal (panda peanut butter puffs), and four loaves of bread (vegetable, pretzel, whole grain, banana). I also went into the local organic supermarket (yeah, I didn’t think they existed in China, either) and found avocados.
Oh, and I come online and find that access to the NYTimes has been restored. Life is complete.
Harbin has let me get creative with food, as imported food choices are pretty limited. Yesterday I made these:
Whole wheat mini baguette
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Sun-dried tomatoes
Italian seasoning
Pop it into the toaster oven for about 10 minutes and you have a pseudo-pizza!
French wine, dark chocolate, jazz, sweats?and the feeling that you still got it goin’ on.
Today I wanted to make sandwiches for dinner, and since it’s not convenient to purchased sliced meat nearby, I went to a few places that sell ??? (rou jia mo, meat sandwiched between steamed bread) to buy some meat. I asked them if they sold their meat separately.
Me: Do you sell your meat separately?
Supermarket woman: This meat is expensive and hard to cook.
Me: Okay, can I buy some? How much would 10RMB buy?
SW: 3 pieces
Me: 3 pieces? You put more than that in one ???, and those only cost 3 RMB.
SW: This meat is tasty! It is hard to cook! I spent a lot of time making it!
Me: Fuck you. (walks away)
I try another place that sells the meat outside the supermarket.
Me: Do you sell your meat separately?
Meat man: No, this meat is expensive.
Me: Why can’t you just cut some off like you were making a ??? and just give me the meat equivalent and I will pay for it like it was a regular ????
MM: Why do you just want the meat?
Me: I want to make a sandwich:
MM: Then you can bring your bread slices here and I will cut the meat for you.
Me: Why can’t you just give me the meat?
MM: I just can’t do that.
Meat Man’s Friend: Are you Korean?
Me: No, I’m not fucking Korean! (walks away) Fuck you!
If anything, wouldn’t benefit more financially by just selling some of your meat and keeping all the extras that come with it? Also, I approached them towards the end of the day–are you going to keep the meat and use it tomorrow (knowing China, though, probably)? I don’t understand the lack of entrepreneurial spirit and inability to think outside the box. Chinese people have so many of these rigid rules and criteria that often make no sense or contradict each other. For example, I cannot bring a backpack into the supermarket, but I can bring a huge tote bag. Are these rules made up because there are too many Chinese people, and thus, too much hassle, to make exceptions?
I just wanted some meat for my sandwich…
As midterm week dawns upon students here, it is expected that you hibernate in your room all day and slave away memorizing characters and churn out essays. I woke up at 11 a.m., and then 9 hours of sitting on my ass ensued (more to come!). Well, almost 9 hours. I took a twenty minute break to walk out of the dorm and buy some rice. And what became the highlight of my day? I had two bowls of imported skim milk and Swiss Choco Teddy cereal. And then I drank imported tea and milk. And then I ate half a can of Heinz Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce.
Pretty tasty, but are the white chocolate (also known as: BUTTER+MILKFAT) chunks really necessary?
Oooh, glucose syrup, I almost feel like I’m in America again.
Once word broke out that liquid milk had traces of melamine, I knew all liquid milk was done for. But what I didn’t think about was all of the food products that China makes that have milk in them. Not long after, White Rabbit candies were being pulled off store shelves across the globe. Then, investigative reports reveal that melamine usage has been “rampant” in the dairy industry. If that wasn’t mind-jostling enough, WSJ reports that Cadbury chocolates have melamine (as well as snacks like Oreos, Snickers). Oh wait, now Ritz crackers and Lipton teas are also tainted. My father sent me an e-mail that named all of the products and brand names affected by the melamine crisis (at least 30 different products, 30 different brand names).
It’s already pretty messed up that government officials munch on pure, organic food while letting the masses suffer (population control conspiracy, anyone?). But are they the only ones to blame for the scandal? I see some blame on every level of the manufacturing chain.
First, many milk farmers are often pressured to satisfy the growing demand for milk from consumers, while they also face decreased profits from government-induced price decreases. How are they to make more milk when they cannot proportionally increase the number of cows they have to meet demand? Farmers aren’t notorious for being rich themselves, how do we know how well they’re feeding their cows? A lack of modernization of farming supplies may also affect their milk turnout.
Second, those who make melamine for industrial use should know who their customers are, and what they intend on using melamine for. Though I see the possible counterargument for this (is it their job to know who they sell to? Money is money), after the dog food scandal last year, the melamine producers should be a little more careful about who they sell their product to. And perhaps melamine producers are also looking for
Third, companies who have known about the addition of melamine since December 2007 kept hush-hush about the issue. They ignored complaints by (or offered hush money to) individuals who suspected something wrong with their milk. They’re rumored to have pressured farmers to produce more milk to meet demand, and they’re suspected to have had connections with melamine producers.
And lastly, the central government’s weak grasp on their quality control initiatives are to blame. Who the hell gives out “free passes” for quality control tests? It sounds like an open invitation to adulterate food for more profit. I am also disappointed that the Chinese government never does anything until something explosively bad happens. Then, they go 100% all out to control the problem, but within a year, things go back to the way they used to be. They will be waiting for the next public health disaster to sprout up.
A New York Times editorial by Bee Wilson divulged information about America’s dirty food past and contrasted it with present-day China. She argued that places experiencing rapid growth and seeking wealth are often look for (harmful) alternatives to meet demand, to make more money. I hope that China’s food system–from the bottom up and from the top down–gets better soon.
In other news, I just bought a carton of Mengniu milk produced on September 18. Hopefully, the milk gods are on my side…at least for the time being.
One of the things that keeps me going in China is the thought of the mid-year Fulbright summit in Hong Kong and Macau. Why? Simply put:
Mmmmango ice cream, mango chunks, mango juice, and glutinous rice balls.
Are you drooling yet? You should be.
The Shanghaiist reports of the many more products that have shown traces of melamine. I can’t believe how this is turning out, and I don’t even want to imagine the many other [as of yet, unnoticed] harmful chemicals that are in the foods we consume. Way to lose major face, China.
Here are some very, very overdue photos of a big meal I cooked the Sunday before leaving the country! It was incredibly stressful, as I did 90% of preparation and cooking. I found that making corn chowder, preheating the oven, reducing beet juice, washing and cutting vegetables, and thawing butter at the same time is pretty difficult.
Prosciutto wrapped asparagus
Stuffed portobello mushrooms
Pink vanilla cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting
More can be found on my Flickr.