This week I shifted my observations of rice consumption from outdoor markets to indoor supermarkets. The contrast between traditional and modern markets is deep: markets are only open in the morning, specialized vendors lining city streets, waste strewn on the ground, whereas supermarkets are large, open, clean facilities offering all clothing, household, and food needs in one quick stop.
I spent a day zipping around Harbin from one 'big box' store to another. These big box stores appear to be the wave of the future (if not the present) in Chinese cities. I covered a lot of the city. Harbin currently has 3 Wal Marts and 4 Carrefours (French chain), plus several RT Marts (Taiwanese chain). Of course, these are spread throughout the 5 major districts in the city. I have spent plenty of time in some of these box stores conducting consumer surveys, but this week I was doing an inventory of packaged rice being sold. Two noteworthy stories emerge.
1). In the US, the generic brand name of Wal-Mart products is Great Value. This label is placed on all products Wal Mart distributes. I found this same label exists on packaged bags (2.5, 5, and 10 kg) of Dongbei Dami (Northeast Rice) in Wal Marts in Harbin. Wal Mart is siphoning this northeast Chinese commodity into their marketing and packaging plan for Chinese consumers. Does this label carry greater meaning in China (than simply 'generic') because most people would consider rice bought in bins at markets 'generic.' Does the Wal Mart label carry more significance of clean and modern? Based on surveys I've done, I don't think brand names really matter to Chinese consumers. But someone at Wal Mart might be able to tell me what they hope to accomplish.
2). Most place offer bags of rice, plus rice in fancy, decorated boxes. These boxes are designed to be given as gifts and are often more expensive (there is a lot to say about the Chinese practice of giving food gifts from one place to out-of-town friends or relatives). In one of the Carrefours, I saw a fancy cylinder container of 1 kg of northeast rice. There was a story on the container about the Korean minority town from which this rice came. It was a long story and I thought it would be interesting to read and analyze. This 1 kg of rice was on a shelf where the price was marked 27 yuan. In street markets, 1 kg of high quality rice sells for about 5 yuan, 1 kg of lower quality rice sells for about 3.4 yuan. So this was expensive rice. But I decided having the container with the story on it was worth the extra money for research purposes. (I have been conditioned by my Chinese friends not to get ripped off, so sometimes its difficult for me to justify a purchase that would be expensive to Chinese people).
In the check-out line, the cashier rang up the 2 small loaves of bread I was buying (total=3 yuan) and then added the rice. The total rang up to be 101 yuan when I was expecting it to be 30 yuan!!! I think my eyes bugged out of my head. What? I asked the cashier. Apparently this rice I thought was overpriced at 27 yuan was mis-labeled and was actually priced at 98 yuan. That would be about $14 for one kilogram of rice (wgen it is usually under a dollar). The cute old Chinese couple in line behind me started laughing at me (or with me). It was a little too much for me to justify purchasing; I took my 3 yuan bread and left. Sure enough at the next Carrefour I visited, there was the same container being sold for 98 yuan. I was able to copy some of the story in my notebook. I got the important parts for now.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Its the Economy, Stupid
So much negative gloom and doom information about the economy and the global economic situation has been in the US press recently. I almost feel immune to most of it given how cheap it is to live off American money here. But nonetheless I hate reading about it, but I do not want to turn into one of those people to excuse myself from reading the news on the claim that it is too depressing.
In the midst of hearing me complain about this depressing attitude of the US media, one of my best friends (who spends ten hour days in the US working on fair trade issues) reminded me that the economy has been in dire need of significant changes for years. True. The way the economy runs needs a wake up call.
So then I question what I am doing here with my research. And it comes to the economy. Essentially I am studying the economy of rice in the northeast of China. But I am not an economist or an agricultural economist. And I am not a macroeconomics expert of how China as a whole is surviving this crisis. I am not trained at all in economics or business. But that helps me bring such a new and fresh perspective to what we mean when we say ‘the economy.’
In my visits to street markets, I note the prices and varieties of rice being offered. I ask the vendors where the rice comes from, where they buy it, etc. And it all seems so simple. They go to the place where the rice is grown and buy it in bulk to sell at their stall. Their prices match the prices as the guy at the next stall. Most vendors are selling the same kind of rice for the same price. It is direct and not complex. Few ‘middle men’ are involved in the northeast rice economy. The chain between rice production in the fields to consumption on city streets is small. People are fed and families make livings.
However, it is not quite that simple and easy. There are a lot more factors that play into creating this rice economy here. Those indirect social, cultural and political factors will be (I hope) what makes my research compelling. But the reality-the practical aspect-of what I hope to show in doing all this research, is that the chains from production to consumption can be short. Shortening that chain can be a step in the right direction towards the elusive ideal of ‘sustainable.’
I do not mean to suggest at all that China can be a ‘model’ for social, economic, or environmentally sustainable agriculture. Far from it, in many ways. But sustainable is definitely not as simple as planting a garden in your yard to supply your food (I applaud the symbolic nature of the new White House garden, but recognize that it stops there).
One of the most fundamental reasons for my research, I think, has to do with gaining a better understanding of how we understand the economy of food and agriculture. If we can understand how the economy works in a variety of different political and cultural contexts, then we can begin to think about new, creative, innovative strategies for thinking about the chains linking agricultural production to food consumption. And that just might help us think about the complex issues we find in other aspects of the economy.
This may not resonate with everyone, but re-framing the problem brings me a little bit of hope. Sorry for the long post. If you've made it this far through my ramblings, here are some pictures of rice vendors at morning street food markets in Harbin.
In the midst of hearing me complain about this depressing attitude of the US media, one of my best friends (who spends ten hour days in the US working on fair trade issues) reminded me that the economy has been in dire need of significant changes for years. True. The way the economy runs needs a wake up call.
So then I question what I am doing here with my research. And it comes to the economy. Essentially I am studying the economy of rice in the northeast of China. But I am not an economist or an agricultural economist. And I am not a macroeconomics expert of how China as a whole is surviving this crisis. I am not trained at all in economics or business. But that helps me bring such a new and fresh perspective to what we mean when we say ‘the economy.’
In my visits to street markets, I note the prices and varieties of rice being offered. I ask the vendors where the rice comes from, where they buy it, etc. And it all seems so simple. They go to the place where the rice is grown and buy it in bulk to sell at their stall. Their prices match the prices as the guy at the next stall. Most vendors are selling the same kind of rice for the same price. It is direct and not complex. Few ‘middle men’ are involved in the northeast rice economy. The chain between rice production in the fields to consumption on city streets is small. People are fed and families make livings.
However, it is not quite that simple and easy. There are a lot more factors that play into creating this rice economy here. Those indirect social, cultural and political factors will be (I hope) what makes my research compelling. But the reality-the practical aspect-of what I hope to show in doing all this research, is that the chains from production to consumption can be short. Shortening that chain can be a step in the right direction towards the elusive ideal of ‘sustainable.’
I do not mean to suggest at all that China can be a ‘model’ for social, economic, or environmentally sustainable agriculture. Far from it, in many ways. But sustainable is definitely not as simple as planting a garden in your yard to supply your food (I applaud the symbolic nature of the new White House garden, but recognize that it stops there).
One of the most fundamental reasons for my research, I think, has to do with gaining a better understanding of how we understand the economy of food and agriculture. If we can understand how the economy works in a variety of different political and cultural contexts, then we can begin to think about new, creative, innovative strategies for thinking about the chains linking agricultural production to food consumption. And that just might help us think about the complex issues we find in other aspects of the economy.
This may not resonate with everyone, but re-framing the problem brings me a little bit of hope. Sorry for the long post. If you've made it this far through my ramblings, here are some pictures of rice vendors at morning street food markets in Harbin.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Crazy Weather
I've been hearing stories about crazy weather all across the US these past couple months. Indeed, these crazy weather patterns are occurring all around the world. Take, for example, China.
I got a text message from a friend in Beijing this morning. "U at the market this morning? Weather here is awesome. Supposed to get into mid-70s today!" My response? "Its Snowing here! &*^%@&#^%&." Beijing is far, but not that far from Harbin. So to have such a drastic difference in weather was surprising (and somewhat frustrating).
I don't mind snow. In fact, I love it. But yesterday was a hint of spring. The sun shone brightly throughout the day. Built-up sidewalk ice was melting. I was overheating at 8 in the morning at the market because I was wearing too many layers of clothes. Then today, the temperature dropped and we had about 3 inches of snow fall throughout the day. Luckily I did not wear my clogs outside. Last week the same thing happened and I walked around the city for 2 hours in clogs. Needless to say, I came home with wet feet.
One day it looks like this. Imagine the sound of pitter pattering water dripping off those icicles.
The next day, we are back to winter again.
I love walking down the street on snowy days because just about every store owner is out sweeping the snow away from his or her chunk of sidewalk in front of the shop.
I also love sunny days at the market where dogs can sit outside (without sweaters as is typical practice here) and help their owners weigh food. (Non-sequitur? Perhaps. But too cute of a photo not to include here).
I got a text message from a friend in Beijing this morning. "U at the market this morning? Weather here is awesome. Supposed to get into mid-70s today!" My response? "Its Snowing here! &*^%@&#^%&." Beijing is far, but not that far from Harbin. So to have such a drastic difference in weather was surprising (and somewhat frustrating).
I don't mind snow. In fact, I love it. But yesterday was a hint of spring. The sun shone brightly throughout the day. Built-up sidewalk ice was melting. I was overheating at 8 in the morning at the market because I was wearing too many layers of clothes. Then today, the temperature dropped and we had about 3 inches of snow fall throughout the day. Luckily I did not wear my clogs outside. Last week the same thing happened and I walked around the city for 2 hours in clogs. Needless to say, I came home with wet feet.
One day it looks like this. Imagine the sound of pitter pattering water dripping off those icicles.
The next day, we are back to winter again.
I love walking down the street on snowy days because just about every store owner is out sweeping the snow away from his or her chunk of sidewalk in front of the shop.
I also love sunny days at the market where dogs can sit outside (without sweaters as is typical practice here) and help their owners weigh food. (Non-sequitur? Perhaps. But too cute of a photo not to include here).
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Everyone Needs a Tera
Introducing my new friend Tera. Tera recently graduated from college in the US with a degree in international business and a minor in Chinese. She decided to evade the working world for a year to come teach English in Harbin. I did not know her last semester; she was too busy teaching 10 hour days. This semester Tera decided she did not want to spend all her time in China in a classroom. So she cut back her teaching hours, signed up for Chinese classes, and found herself with a lot more spare time.
After I met Tera, I explained my rice research project. I told her I was trying to visit some of Harbin's street food markets in the morning. The problem is that the markets are all open at 6am and need to be closed by 8am (Harbin law). Its early and cold outside at that time. I could easily wake up that early if I needed to be somewhere, but with no one expecting me to be there, I had not been motivated to get to visit them. Tera knew of some in her neighborhood and immediately offered to get up and show me around one morning. Then I told her I was planning to visit another market and she offered to come with me. At 6 am. She offered her services as a personal research assistant.
When I plan to meet her, I have to be there and I have no excuse not to go outside. Having someone there to meet me makes me go. And I have had some productive mornings at the markets. I'm not collecting much information at the markets, just seeing how many rice stalls there are and the varieties of rice they sell (hoping that one day when it actually gets warm here I will spend more time at the markets). I don't need Tera there to do anything aside from walk with me. She keeps me company. It works well for her because she wants to go to grad school for a PhD one day so she is getting exposed to (the fun part of) graduate work. Sometimes she stops to pet the fish for sale.
We also stop to pet dogs, examine the rice, taste test fresh peanut butter, avoid looking at the dead animals being sold for meat, and marvel at the tropical fruit being sold outside in the snow.
Markets are pretty fun places.
Here's some rice!
And when we are finished, we stop at a nearby KFC to warm up and wake up with hot coffee.
After I met Tera, I explained my rice research project. I told her I was trying to visit some of Harbin's street food markets in the morning. The problem is that the markets are all open at 6am and need to be closed by 8am (Harbin law). Its early and cold outside at that time. I could easily wake up that early if I needed to be somewhere, but with no one expecting me to be there, I had not been motivated to get to visit them. Tera knew of some in her neighborhood and immediately offered to get up and show me around one morning. Then I told her I was planning to visit another market and she offered to come with me. At 6 am. She offered her services as a personal research assistant.
When I plan to meet her, I have to be there and I have no excuse not to go outside. Having someone there to meet me makes me go. And I have had some productive mornings at the markets. I'm not collecting much information at the markets, just seeing how many rice stalls there are and the varieties of rice they sell (hoping that one day when it actually gets warm here I will spend more time at the markets). I don't need Tera there to do anything aside from walk with me. She keeps me company. It works well for her because she wants to go to grad school for a PhD one day so she is getting exposed to (the fun part of) graduate work. Sometimes she stops to pet the fish for sale.
We also stop to pet dogs, examine the rice, taste test fresh peanut butter, avoid looking at the dead animals being sold for meat, and marvel at the tropical fruit being sold outside in the snow.
Markets are pretty fun places.
Here's some rice!And when we are finished, we stop at a nearby KFC to warm up and wake up with hot coffee.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
On Writing
I write a lot these days. Luckily, most of the time I am my only audience. This is good because I am writing behind closed doors and no one is reading and judging what I write. But its bad because its me alone with my thoughts. Which sometimes turn into a wild jungle of scary jibberish.
Soon I am going to have to write this all into a story about rice where I have to balance the stories of the people I meet with the story I want to tell. Somehow I am going to have to make that work. But for now I write to process and evaluate (and constantly re-evaluate) what I am doing here. Sometimes I think about things and write them out and that writing process leaves me with 5 new threads of ideas to carry out. Those are the days when writing is good. Other times I write and I am trying to confront or figure out a problem and I keep wrapping myself back to the original question or problem. I guess that is the nature of something as complicated as social science.
For example, I feel like I have spent a lot of time trying to understand why people think the rice I am studying is good rice. So I have asked people what aspects or qualities they look for when buying rice. I am trying to get to the bottom of this question by making it complicated when sometimes it appears as simple as this: it’s the only rice they really can buy here because it’s the local rice. They are used to this rice and its readily available and fairly cheap so its what they eat. But I tell myself it has to be more complicated than that so I keep asking people to explain it to me and I continue to get the exact same answers. It has taken me a lot of time to be able to synthesize all of my ideas into this simple paragraph. But I am constantly confronting the original question and wondering at what point do I leave it alone and move on or try to dig further and pull deeper meaning from it all. And maybe now is not necessarily the time for me to even be thinking about this and I should just be doing it. But I can’t do it without thinking about it. And I am drawn back into a cycle…
Its times like these when I need to laugh at the entire process of writing. Because writing is thinking and good writing is the outcome of the combination of bad writing and good thinking. To make light of this situation, here is a link to one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite TV characters, Lorelai Gilmore of the Gilmore Girls. I love this character because her mind works like my mind. But unlike me (who keeps my incoherent thoughts to myself to maintain the image of sanity), Lorelai just lets it go. In this scene she is trying to write a letter, but nothing is coming out. It makes me laugh (and as a bonus she references Casablanca and the Bush White House in one breath-[Casa Blanca=White House in spanish]).
One final note: I think that a lot of my thoughts about writing come (surprisingly) from Steven King. The only book by Steven King I have read the entire way through was a memoir/guide to writing called On Writing. I bought this book a few years ago on the street in Beijing the day before a 13-hour plane ride to the US. By the time I got home, I had finished the book. I realize my writing is much different from Steven King’s, but I appreciated the ways he synthesized the process of writing. Whether its weird science fiction or rice preferences in China, writing is a process shared by many.
Soon I am going to have to write this all into a story about rice where I have to balance the stories of the people I meet with the story I want to tell. Somehow I am going to have to make that work. But for now I write to process and evaluate (and constantly re-evaluate) what I am doing here. Sometimes I think about things and write them out and that writing process leaves me with 5 new threads of ideas to carry out. Those are the days when writing is good. Other times I write and I am trying to confront or figure out a problem and I keep wrapping myself back to the original question or problem. I guess that is the nature of something as complicated as social science.
For example, I feel like I have spent a lot of time trying to understand why people think the rice I am studying is good rice. So I have asked people what aspects or qualities they look for when buying rice. I am trying to get to the bottom of this question by making it complicated when sometimes it appears as simple as this: it’s the only rice they really can buy here because it’s the local rice. They are used to this rice and its readily available and fairly cheap so its what they eat. But I tell myself it has to be more complicated than that so I keep asking people to explain it to me and I continue to get the exact same answers. It has taken me a lot of time to be able to synthesize all of my ideas into this simple paragraph. But I am constantly confronting the original question and wondering at what point do I leave it alone and move on or try to dig further and pull deeper meaning from it all. And maybe now is not necessarily the time for me to even be thinking about this and I should just be doing it. But I can’t do it without thinking about it. And I am drawn back into a cycle…
Its times like these when I need to laugh at the entire process of writing. Because writing is thinking and good writing is the outcome of the combination of bad writing and good thinking. To make light of this situation, here is a link to one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite TV characters, Lorelai Gilmore of the Gilmore Girls. I love this character because her mind works like my mind. But unlike me (who keeps my incoherent thoughts to myself to maintain the image of sanity), Lorelai just lets it go. In this scene she is trying to write a letter, but nothing is coming out. It makes me laugh (and as a bonus she references Casablanca and the Bush White House in one breath-[Casa Blanca=White House in spanish]).
One final note: I think that a lot of my thoughts about writing come (surprisingly) from Steven King. The only book by Steven King I have read the entire way through was a memoir/guide to writing called On Writing. I bought this book a few years ago on the street in Beijing the day before a 13-hour plane ride to the US. By the time I got home, I had finished the book. I realize my writing is much different from Steven King’s, but I appreciated the ways he synthesized the process of writing. Whether its weird science fiction or rice preferences in China, writing is a process shared by many.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Random
I have so many things to write about I have had trouble choosing what to write about so I have not written much lately. I guess I would rather not choose what to write about than to try to write a jumbled mish-mash of thoughts. Here are some topics I could write about in greater depth, but will provide just short paragraphs:
- Flavored potato chips. After purusing the potato chip selection in a Chinese supermarket, I realized the main selection between chips was: blueberry, strawberry, cucumber, tomatoe, beef, or 'American.' A friend has informed me that in the UK one can get hedgehog flavored chips. A few years ago in Thailand I had curry-flavored chips that I have not seen anywhere else I have travelled since. I would love to figure out how potato chip companies cater to consumers in dofferent countries. I am especially interested in this because 'blueberry' is a rare flavor in China. Even in Maine where anything and everything is labelled as blueberry to attract tourists, I never saw blueberry potato chips.
- Spring in Harbin. Harbin is melting. The ice sculptures have been blown up and the ice returned to the river. The other night we had rain that slowly turned to snow. With poor drainage on the streets, the result is that during the day I am constantly dodging ankle deep puddles. At night, I am carefully walking on frozen sidewalks. All around me, the sidewalks are filled with hordes of Chinese who walk leisurely. As much as I've tried the lazy Chinese leisure walk, I can't help being a fast-paced American who needs to march through the crowds. I am convinced one day that my fast walk, combined with icy, muddy sidewalks, will have negative consequences. But its cold outside and I need to get around.
- The Financial Crisis. I've had people ask me how people are talking about the financial crisis in China. Given that each time I open the US news on my computer, I see something else related to the financial crisis, I am still trying to figure out how it is perceived in China. Most people ask me about America's economic problems. They understand its a world problem and affecting some industries in China, but do not necessarily see it as affecting their lives. I wonder if this is because of the overly-confident attitude through which the Chinese media is reporting how China will make it through this crisis. I also wonder if the overly-negative stories in the US media are causing too much panic. I know that is an overly-simplistic position to take, but I am not thinking about it too much.
- Markets. This topic could quite possibly turn into quite a long post someday since I spend so much time thinking about where and how food is sold in urban China. But I have too many ideas to make a coherent post, so here is the simple version. I've been exploring Harbin's markets lately, trying to understand where rice is sold outside the major chain supermarkets. The most interesting places I've found have been the Grain and Oil Stores. These stores are leftovers of the Communist era where staples such as wheat, rice, soy sauce, and oil were rationed. They were all placed together in a single store where families could use their ration cards. Today, money is all that one needs. Many of these stores are difficult to find (unless you are familiar with the neighborhood and know where to look, as I've learned the hard way) and are often run-down. But many people prefer to shop at these stores for their convinience. Yeah, there is so much to say, I am cutting myself off here.
- Happy International Women's Day. Today (March 8) is Women's Day in China. Its a big deal here. Its on a Sunday this year, so I am not sure how it is celebrated but when I taught in Sichuan, I think we all got the day off. I did not learn until after I had left China that it is a Communist holiday, started primarily by the USSR, which explains why its a big deal here and I had never heard about it in the US.
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