U.S. Olympic delegation to pass on Chinese food
February 22, 2008
Apparently the phrase “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” doesn’t apply to the U.S. Olympic Committee. According to an article on ESPN.com, the more than 1,000-member delegation of athletes, coaches, trainers and other personnel will be bringing their own food supply to China this August for the 2008 Olympics.
Really.
It’s got the Beijing officials understandably disappointed, although the article also points out that food safety in China has become a major issue for the Olympics. Tainted products and reported use of drugs and insecticides in food production could trigger a positive drug test, ruin an athlete’s career and be a public relations disaster for China, the article said.
While the U.S.’s 600-plus athletes will still be dining in the Olympic Village, the rest of the delegation (which isn’t eligible for meals at the village) will fill up at a training camp at Beijing Normal University, where the committee plans to ship “tons of meat and other foods.”
OK, I understand the drug-testing thing. But if the athletes are eating at the Olympic Village anyway and the U.S. food will be consumed primarily by non-competitors, why the concern?
I’ve never been to China, but I lived in rural Mexico and not once did I get sick off the food. I don’t say that to pat myself on the back, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the water there should not touch your lips or your dishes unless it comes from a bottle.
So what gives? Does anyone think this undermines the spirit of the games and the privilege of being the host country? Or in this day and age is it better to play it safe?
LIZ FARMER, Business Writer
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This is a very American blunder. Americans do not have a culture, so they lack cultural sensitivity.
In the African society where I come from, you can politely decline the food your host offers you. What is unheard of is to announce before hand that you do not want to eat your host’s food.
You are indirectly telling your host that he wants to poison you. You are indirectly telling your host that he is your enemy.
I can bet my last penny that the Chinese (being a society steeped in culture) will react the same way. This foolish statement has made you many enemies in China.
A more culturally aware society would have kept its plans for alternative feeding arrangements as discreet as possible (the Japanese, French and British would never say stuff like that openly).
I shudder.
Perhaps since Americans lack a culture, you should return to yours?
Just a thought.
The food in China is well below world standards. The New York Times has reportedly found steroids and pesticides in the food. Enough steroids that scientist believe that an athlete could test positive for a drug test ruining their career and have negative impact on the U.S. Lastly the subject has been widely discussed in the sport because athletes were to bring their own chefs and food. The U.S. is well within our right to bring our own food when the local poses health risks.
Almost all dishes of Chinese food are, as a rule, cooked in the kitchen by stir-frying, shallow frying, deep frying, stewing, steaming, etc. and then presented to the diners. Only the chafing dish merges the cooking and the eating processes. What is more, the cooking apparatus is placed on the table and fire is made to burn from the beginning to the end of the dinner. Doesn’t this remind you of the way of eating our remote ancestors were habituated to? Even now, in our times, those who eat together around a chafing dish must be family members or close companions. They are your good friends, if not brothers. Doesn’t this smack of a deep feeling of perfect human relationship? Especially in deep winter, when the north wind is howling and snowflakes are flying, what can surpass dinning around a chafing dish for the enjoyment of life and sincere human relationship?