China's growing band of veggies

[Guest guest]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_2064000/2064918.stm

 

BBC News

Tuesday, 25 June, 2002, 11:22 GMT 12:22 UK

China's growing band of veggies

 

By Duncan Hewitt

BBC Shanghai correspondent

 

China has become the world's biggest producer of meat

over the last decade.

 

Economic reforms and growing affluence have given more

people the chance to eat once-scarce foods like beef

and chicken, and Western fast food chains have helped

to spread the fashion.

 

But with the country also experiencing a sharp rise in

health problems common in developed countries - from

heart disease to obesity - some people are now calling

for a change.

 

In addition to all the meat-eaters, China also has a

new generation of lifestyle vegetarians.

 

In the student canteen at Shanghai's Fudan University,

Huang Yangxing casts his eye over a counter full of

glistening, greasy dishes and tries to choose his

lunch. For the 21-year-old history student it is a

challenge.

 

He recently converted to vegetarianism, and finding

something both meat-free and appetising is no easy

task.

 

" The canteen staff think I'm strange because I don't

eat meat, " he says, as he sits down to a tray of fried

pumpkin and bean curd with carrot.

 

'Western' illnesses

 

In fact China has one of the world's oldest vegetarian

traditions, inspired by Buddhism. But its influence

faded after the Communist revolution, and now people

can afford to eat more meat.

 

Huang Yangxing, who grew up in the countryside, was

once no exception.

 

" I used to think if you didn't have any meat with a

meal that would be terrible. In the countryside eating

meat was seen as a sign of wealth, " he says.

 

" As the economy develops people spend more, so China's

meat consumption is developing fastest in the world -

but now we're seeing all these new illnesses too. "

 

Inspired in part by Western vegetarian ideas he found

on the internet, Huang Yangxing set up a vegetarian

society in his university, one of only two of its kind

in China. He wants to spread information about

protecting animals and the environment, and about

healthy diet.

 

And in a society where heart disease, cancer, and

diabetes are all on the increase, and where 40% of the

population in some cities is overweight, he is finding

unexpected support among his fellow members of China's

fast food generation.

 

" My younger brother and sister, they often go to

McDonalds and Kentucky, " says another student, Dai

Xiaoying. " When I was their age I also like fried

chicken potatoes. But now like my room mates we think

junk food isn't good for us. "

 

She became a vegetarian after her mother experienced

health problems. Her father thinks she is mad.

 

Her friend, 19-year-old medical student Hu Zijun, has

met similar criticism. When she told her father she

was a vegetarian he said she was " crazy " .

 

" He said if I don't eat any meat I'll lack nutrition

and be sick or have some disease, " Miss Hu says.

 

Lifestyle changes

 

But help may be at hand.

 

Gloria Tseng and her husband Song Yuanbo recently

opened two clean modern restaurants called " Vegetarian

Lifestyle " in Shanghai. The couple come from Taiwan

where the Buddhist vegetarian tradition remains

strong.

 

And though Mr Song's favourite food used to be pigs'

feet - until they became vegetarians after his mother

fell ill with cancer. Now they are on a mission to

spread the message in the mainland.

 

" We hope to encourage people not to make the same

mistakes as in the West, " says Mrs Tseng. " These

illnesses can have such an impact on families.

 

" In such a big country if everyone eats a lot of meat

it could be very dangerous. China has a limited amount

of land; breeding livestock uses up the land and

wastes crops. "

 

Mrs Tseng says some people walk out of their

restaurants when they hear there is no meat. But she

says recent food safety scares and weariness with the

lavish banquets and huge meals which are such a part

of doing business in China, are making the young urban

elite think harder about what they eat.

 

Her restaurants also sell produce from Shanghai's

first organic farm and offer free training to anyone

thinking of setting up their own vegetarian

restaurant. Mrs Tseng says Shanghai will have four

more by the end of the year, and there has been

interest from several other Chinese cities

 

But to cure the Chinese of their love of meat is a

huge challenge.

 

In one of Shanghai's ubiquitous dim sum cafes, artist

Li Zhen tucks into a plate of snails and a bowl of

pork dumplings. Like many in this food-obsessed city,

she still cannot imagine life without meat.

 

" Only meat can give me more energy - if I only eat

vegetables, after two hours I have to have another

meal, " she says.

 

" I think the Chinese body needs meat. If you don't eat

meat in any meal it's like you eat nothing.

 

" Beef, pork, chicken, duck, snake, snail - they are

all very delicious, and healthy. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup

http://fifaworldcup.

[Guest guest]

China's growing band of veggies

 

Tuesday, 25 June, 2002, 11:22 GMT 12:22 UK

By Duncan Hewitt

BBC Shanghai correspondent

 

 

China has become the world's biggest producer of meat over the last decade.

Economic reforms and growing affluence have given more people the chance to eat

once-scarce foods like beef and chicken, and Western fast food chains have

helped to spread the fashion.

 

But with the country also experiencing a sharp rise in health problems common in

developed countries - from heart disease to obesity - some people are now

calling for a change.

 

In addition to all the meat-eaters, China also has a new generation of lifestyle

vegetarians.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/asia-pacific/newsid_2064000/2064918.stm

 

 

 

--

mail2web - Check your email from the web at

http://mail2web.com/ .