yeah, i've heard all the anti-meat eating arguments. one of them is that it's harmful to the environment. how many acres of land are needed to be plowed for a bowl of corn flakes?

have a look here Magnifico and think that this is not the only point.

michaelbluejay.com/veg/environment.html

yeah, i had a look at your link. i cannot dispute his claims because it's too complicated. but i don't trust this web site.

i get sicker off of veggies than meat when i go out to eat... also when i cook meat i go to the same market in the morning and get fresh meat. ive been to farms in china. they mix dirt with the toilet stuff shovel it in a wheelbarrel and dump it on the plots of veggies.

I often cook at home, but mostly typical local fare (stir fry w/rice).

I do keep a few western ingredients on hand so I can have a taste of home from time to time, like feta cheese and black olives for Greek salad, refried beans, sour cream, and tortillas for huevos rancheros, and potatoes for, well, a bunch of things. I get all of those at Metro (to earlier posters, I did need to get a Metro card in order to shop there, but I did not need to have a business card to get a Metro card, just my ID).

One thing I would like to figure out is how to buy decent quality chicken, especially chicken breasts, because I usually cook with them. Walmart, Carrefour, and Metro have all been a no-go so far. Anyone have advice on that front? I live in the Green Lake area.

Also, what is a wet market?

Wet market is a type of food market, it's where locals (and many foreigners too) go to buy their vegetables and meat. They have less of hygiene than supermarkets, but the food is generally fresher as it is sold by the farmers or people close to them in the production chain.

If you haven't yet, you should visit them just for the experience.

About chicken, you can buy whole chicken (dead or alive) from those wet markets.

You may not get to select quality chicken breasts without buying the whole chickens.

Local method to prepare chicken is to chop the whole chicken to chunks and then use the more bony pieces for soup and more meaty parts for frying on pan.

That is to say, the meat is generally not separated from the bones until eating, so buying specifically breasts is tricky.

That's very helpful, thank you.

I guess I buy my vegetables at a "wet market", because I just get them by the side of the road, I just didn't know the lingo. They don't sell any meat there though, so I'll have a look around.

The big wet markets are usually indoor complexes, usually divided to two sections (or floors, depending on the layout), one for vegetables and the other for meat.

The one we usually go to, is behind Carrefour at Longquan Lu and Baiyun Lu intersection. Nearby there is also a busy shopping street with many stalls selling food and other stuff.

Probably if you live anywhere inside 2nd Ring Road, there will be one or two wet markets within 2 kilometers from you.

No offence, but how do you guys know that they bleach chicken in Carrefour to make it constantly fresh?

I thought Carrefour stuff should be reliable. Though my mom usually buy groceries in wet market simply because that's where local people in their generation go and get food.