Food Globalization in China

Food Globalization in China In most Chinese traditional families, family members would sit around the dining table and dine together. Everyone would talk about the day and bond as a family. Usually, it would be the mother who would buy groceries after work and return home to cook for the family. Sometimes, the father, the children or even the grandparents would help out in the kitchen. The mother of the family would always consider the nutrition, thus for every dish, it would be well-prepared, making sure that every family member would not have any health problems, such as getting sick or malnutrition. This was what a Chinese traditional family would be like in the past where fast food restaurants and “instant” food were scarce. Today’s Chinese family has altered tremendously. Purchasing meals at fast food restaurants is such an easy task compared to the loads of work and preparation for cooking at home. As a result, a mother has lost her chance to increase her energy expenditure that she would have spent on traveling to the grocery store, choosing and purchasing items, and returning home to cook. In addition, the bonding time for the family has decreased due to lack of interactions such as cooking and dining together. Instead, a mother has found other ways to provide food for the family. She would often go straight to a nearby fast food chain, make a take-away order or purchase instant French fries or noodles from a nearby supermarket. Likewise, compared to the traditional way of Chinese dinners, where families sit around a table of different dishes, fast food menus are mostly set for individuals, the amount of time that a family spends together is again decreased, and this unhealthy diet may slowly lead to unpredicted illnesses. In a matter of time, whether you are sitting in a restaurant or walking along the shopping districts of Shanghai, you look around and you could see humongous people with waist like pillars, arms that looks like thighs and

Cited: Dale, Wen. “The Fast Food Invasion”. China Copes with Globalization: (2005): n. pag. Web 14 November 2011. Mendez, A. Michelle and M. Popkin. “Globalization, Urbanization and Nutritional Change In the Developing World”. Globalization of Food Systems in Developing Countries: Impact on Food Security and Nutrition (2004): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011. Popkin, Barry M. “The World is Fat.” The World is Fat (2008): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011.Watson, L. James. “China 's Big Mac Attack” Wong, Seanon. “What 's In A Dumpling”. University of Chicago (2006): n. pag. Web. 13 November 2011 Wu, Yangfeng Tan, Cheryn. “Curry - Origins and History”. Suite101, 2009. Web. 13 November 2011. Shah, Riddhi. “The Secret to the Immortality of McDonald 's Food”. Salon, 2010. Web. 13 November 2011. Andrew, John. “Surprise Ingredients in Fast Food”. Natural New, 2010. Web. 13 November 2011.