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| Street Market, Daegu, South Korea |
In the last several years, or even the last decade, the world seems to be focused on the new fad of where does our food come from. Authors like Michael Pollen bring to our attention how little we know, local markets are popping up everywhere, and gardens are being grown in little patches of dirt among skyscrapers. This is a great fad and I hope it's here to stay.
One thing I have learned living abroad is even with this movement to pay attention to what we're putting in hour mouths we, or at least I, take our daily eating habits for granted. When you move to a new country, suddenly your whole mode of survival is kicked out of balance. You have to think about things that before were simply a way of life that you'd always known. Before moving to Thailand, how I acquired my food was something I'd only thought about in connection with a few anthropology papers I wrote, or what I read in Discovery Magazine or in the Omnivore's Dilemma. I love shopping at farmers markets, but in the States I know what I'm looking for, where it's most likely to be, and if I'm not sure it's just a few words and a question mark away. In the States, I would also grocery shop maybe once a week. Perhaps picking up something here and there if I run out of milk or yogurt or am making some special dish, but I certainly never frequented the shopping market every day.
I remember my first experience abroad in Italy. I was walking home from school one day and I ran into my teacher. He asked the equivalent of what was I up to now that school was out, and asked where I stopped to pick up my bread. He was holding a brown sack of what looked like several items with lettuce and a large baguette sticking out. I told him that I wasn't picking up any bread, and he was really quite confused. You don't like bread? No, I already have some at home. Do you not buy bread every day? No... should I? You go grocery shopping every day? Huh. Then we said our awkward goodbye and parted ways (while still pretty much walking in the same direction...)
After living in Thailand, I now completely understand what he was talking about. After settling in for a few months and buying my food at Big C, (basically like a Super WalMart), I started going to the market almost every day to pick up whatever I would be eating that evening. I was in an unknown place with many unknown foods and going to the market was always an adventure. But it was also necessary for me to eat unless I wanted spaghetti every night or to taxi to Big C for groceries all the time. I had to think about where I was going to get my food that day in a way that had never been an issue. Gradually I found a pattern in my eating habits, but at first, I really had to put some thought into what I would be feeding myself.
It really brought to my attention what an important part food plays in our lives and how foraging for food whatever the circumstances has had a huge impact on each individual culture. Why did people first start to settle in once place? Why have some cultures advanced technologically as far as they have while others remain hunter gatherers? Some cultures savor meals using them as a time for social gathering and conversation, in others its a matter of just eating enough sustain. What food we put in our mouths and how we go about it has changed so much over time, and varies so distinctly across cultures. What we eat, how we eat it and what lies behind these decisions is something that most of us never really need to think about, but I think that how we procure our food says a lot about us.
So far, Korea has been no different. I've already found myself getting annoyed with hunger because we neglected to think ahead to our meal that night, and now we've got to go forage something up in the city of Sangju. Simple? Sure, if we want some instant noddles. It also doesn't help that I'm not the biggest fan of Korean food, that I speak hardly a word of Korean, and that we're in a smaller city so a menu in English? Don't think so. Thus, the adventure of figuring out what and how I will satisfy my grumbling stomach begins.
Looking for food, South Korea:
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| Eggs by the... 10?? |
