you are what you eat

And in a world in which self-identity and place-identity are woven through webs of consumption, what we eat (and where, and why) signals, as the aphorism says, who we are. (Bell and Valentine in Consuming Geographies, 2006:3)

On my walk back from the supermarket, I was thinking about how my eating habits have changed since September. Plus one of my term papers has something to do with food and how it relates to belonging and the performance of identity.

I eat/drink less:
Meat, especially chicken, which was quite a regular dish at home.
Asian vegetables like xiaobaicai and kailan, mostly because the Chinese store sells them in really big bunches that I know will end up wilting.
Fish, which is a bit pricey and limited to salmon, trout etc. I miss pomfret! Although, I have taken to putting anchovies in pasta sauce and it really perks it up.
Milk. The milk doesn't keep as long here (which I reckon means it's fresher but that also means the tendency to waste it so I buy the smallest bottles available; however, I get my calcium from other sources - see below)
Rice. Mostly cos it takes a while to cook and i still haven't perfected boiling rice on the stove, plus I tend to cook it only if I'm making soup.
Alcohol.

I eat/drink more:
Vegetables, especially zucchinis, capsicum, eggplant, and sweet potatoes, which make excellent oven-baked fries.
Salad. All kinds of salad leaves (although I still can't stand eating watercress raw).
Yoghurt, I have discovered a fondness for Greek yoghurt - love its thick creamy texture, and it's a great dessert with raisins and honey.
Cheese. And new ones such as a blue-veined Brie, Wensleydale cheese (has a feta-like texture)
Bread - well different varieties at least. Such as Lebanese flatbread, wholewheat pita, English muffins and rye bread.
Pasta - mostly cos it's easy to cook up a big pot of sauce and keep it for the next couple of dinners. Even without sauce, it's just a quick easy dinner to throw in some garlic, zucchini, chilli, prawns and olive oil.
Tea - perfectly understandable of course. Plus there's the fact that there's only 1 or 2 places with good lattes on campus. The rest tend to offer filter coffee...bah...
Fairtrade goods - The school's very into Fairtrade products and most of the cafes sell fairtrade teas/coffees.