Changing our diet in uncertain times

Many of us eat purely to satisfy our appetite for delicious food. But due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), many Chinese people are changing their eating habits.
我们中的许多人都对美食有所追求。但新冠肺炎疫情也让许多中国人改变了自己的饮食习惯。

Due to busy work schedules, ordering simple and quick meals online used to be commonplace for many young people in China. Zhang Xiaoyan, a 30-year-old from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, was one of them. She typically ate in the office and seldom cooked at home on weekdays. Even on weekends, she would prefer takeout food. But amid the NCP outbreak, being trapped at home for an extended period has changed her eating habit. Now, she rolls up her sleeves and cooks for herself. “Cooking by myself sometimes is quite time-demanding, but it helps me have a healthy diet,” Zhang told China Daily.
由于工作忙碌，许多中国年轻人常常会点快餐外卖。来自江苏南京今年30岁的张小燕（音译）便是如此。工作日期间，她通常会在办公室吃饭，很少在家下厨。甚至到了周末，她也更喜欢点外卖。但新冠肺炎疫情期间，隔离在家的“超长假期”改变了她的饮食习惯。现在她卷起袖子为自己下厨。“下厨有时候是挺费时间的，但我的饮食变得健康了，”张小燕在接受《中国日报》采访时如此表示。

Instead of eating at fast food chains or restaurants, cooking at home has become a nationwide trend. Some even regard sharing food videos on their WeChat Moments at meal times as “a special way to say hello to each other when face-to-face dinner is not possible,” noted China Daily.
不去下馆子，而是选择在家做饭成为了全国性的一大趋势。《中国日报》指出，一些人甚至认为，饭点在朋友圈里分享美食视频成为了“一种打招呼的特别方式，因为现在还不能面对面地坐下来一起吃饭。”

Apart from cooking at home, many also eat separately and adopt the habit of using serving chopsticks and spoons, or gongkuai and gongshao in Chinese.
除了在家做饭，许多人也开始了分餐制，使用公勺公筷。

Influenced by collectivism, communal eating habits have been a part of Chinese culture for centuries. For Chinese people, eating one’s own dish would be considered rude during a social gathering. They typically share several dishes laid out in the center of a table and sometimes share utensils in the meals to show their respect and closeness.
受集体主义观念的影响，延续数百年的合餐制已经成为了中华文化的一部分。对于中国人而言，在聚会中独自用餐是种不礼貌的表现。大家通常会一起吃摆在餐桌中间的几道菜，有时还会互相夹菜以示敬意和亲近。

Though it seems polite, it’s indeed risky. According to World Health Organization, foodborne diseases are quite common, and saliva is one of the most common ways for them to spread. So many cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, have already launched initiatives for people to order separate meals.
尽管这么做看上去礼节周到，但的确存在风险。世界卫生组织表示，通过食物传播的疾病相当常见，其中唾液传播是最常见的方式之一。因此，包括北京、上海、广州在内的许多中国城市都已向人们发起分餐倡议。

“Healthy eating habits and maintaining good order have become real issues for us. It’s related to people’s health and safety, and it’s also a personal responsibility during the pandemic,” noted Guangming Daily. These are habits formed amid the pandemic, but as long as they are good for our health, perhaps we should keep them from now on.
“健康的饮食习惯与保持良好的规律成为了我们的现实问题。这与公众健康安全息息相关，也是疫情期间的个人责任，”《光明日报》指出。虽然这些习惯都是在疫情期间养成的，但只要这些习惯有助于健康，或许我们都应该坚持下去。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高一786期