Sacrificing for Food

It was another restless night, packing before I made my monthly trek from Austin to Houston. I was stressing over memorizing all the recipes I was going to teach at my 2 cooking classes at Central Market. (For those of you who don't live in Texas, CM is a food lover's paradise and Whole Foods' major local competitor.) 

That being said, I had just canceled our cable while Foti(my husband) and I were in Greece for nearly 3 weeks. I had forgotten to turn it back on so I didn't have the option of catching up on my usual favs which include Project Runway, Heroes, Jon & Kate Plus 8 and No Reservations. I was stuck with local news and PBS. Good ole PBS. I get my news in sound bite increments from my husband, a local TV reporter throughout the day. Therefore, I have no desire to watch stale, regurgitated information. I decided to bore myself to sleep with a monotone, 5th grade history illustration of some animal in need of my money/help. I love PBS but they have some sorry fillers at 1 a.m. Just saying...

To my delight, surprise and dismay there was a poignant story of a 16-year-old girl named Yu Shui, who struggled to help her poor farm family survive. I started watching as I saw her tears and then stopped packing my things to read the sub captions of what was going on in her life.

Her mom, dad and young siblings were huddled around a candle having a family meeting of sorts. Their home consisted of mud, a few broken boards above them, a small table for eating and a few thin blankets. "Modest means" is a drastic understatement in this case. Yu Shui was upset that she was leaving her family to work on a ship. She had to leave because her parents could no longer provide food for the family. She was their only hope. Her father held his head down in shame and her mom apologized for not knowing how to read and provide for the family. There was no more food to farm she explained. 

Yu Shui packed one small plastic bag of clothes and was on her way. She was going to be a dishwasher on a cruise ship in China. There was a bunch of teenagers from ages 15-19. They were all trying to improve their social-economic situation for themselves and their families. Some were greeters, bell men, karaoke singers, cooks and servers. Dishwasher was at the bottom of the totem pole.Yu Shui worked all day and night. Her only "time off" was when the ship docked for guests. Sometimes the boat would dock for the workers to their families for a few  hours. Those moments were rare.

In one scene, Yu Shui burst into tears. It was all too overwhelming. She was being told to work harder, quicker and do a better job or she would be replaced. No one consoled her. A coworker advised her,"Work harder. This is easy work. Focus. Maybe one day you could move up to be a server? Upstairs is where they make the tips."

Yu Shui gained composure then began scrubbing cups and plates again. She wiped her tears and kept on going. 

The next scene is where she greets her family for the first time. The first questions they asked were, "How often do you eat? How often do they serve you meat?"

My heart sank. Not even a "How are you?" They wanted to know her food situation.

She answered, "I eat meat and vegetables everyday." Her parents' eyes were filled with sadness and maybe envy, but they were also happy for her. The ship manager tells Yu Shui's parents that she can fulfill all their broken dreams. She can make a difference in all their lives.

She gave most of her money to her parents to buy food and eventually she was able to move them all into a small, square, concrete apartment, in a slum part of the city. They were elated. She only kept enough money for her food. It was such a tremendous sacrifice for a girl of her age.

The next morning when I went to Houston, I had newfound humility. I remember when I washed seemingly endless piles of dishes in culinary school and even after. My incentive was that one day I could work all the stations and become a chef that owns my own company. I had incentive to move on to bigger things. Did Yu Shui? Was it just her means to an end ? Either way, I taught both of my classes with Yu Shui in the corner of my mind. 

I respect the food I work with, the people who help prepare it, serve it and clean up after all of us. Because food is a necessity, it has created millions of jobs over the years. All are honorable. All are respectable. This show was a reminder of that and how much gratitude I have for being a part of my local food community.