"I think that one factor is that in the Chinese culture, you don't expect everything to be good and available during all seasons."
I don't think that's a cultural thing, and certainly not an ethnic thing. I think it might have something to do with how many generations-removed one is from agrarian life (or close physical/logistical proximity to it)... Growing up in my (very white) hometown in New England, which still had plenty of farms at the time, it was well understood that the good produce was seasonal and not available in chain supermarkets.
I don't think it's an ethnic thing. But I definitely think it's a cultural thing. I agree with you about how many generations-removed you are from food production. Rather, how many steps/middlemen you're used to.
For example: China is still a developing country with a generally low per capita income. You're intimately familiar with the seasons, and what's available when, and what it takes to get your food.
Few can afford to shop at Western style supermarkets regularly, so you have a better idea (and know) the people growing and selling your food. "Oh, that's the place that always has the good cabbage". That sort of thing.
Compare that to the states, where even produce comes shrink wrapped and you have no idea how it got in the store, you just know you need to pay money to bring it home. How many trucks/resellers/packagers has this produce gone through before I take it home?
This is almost right...but the western style supermarkets in China like bgh are still very Chinese. A lot of produce comes shrink wrapped, which is something I have never seen in the states before! And it is annoying, because they will hide wilted leaves under good ones...damn it. In general, I find shopping for veggies in China nerve wracking, and it's mostly my Chinese wife doing the picking while I'm just waiting and waiting...
Wet markets are no better...often there is no place to get good cabbage, at least nowhere near my house, and we have to use something else that we could find in decent condition.
In Hawai'i produce shipped from the mainland can come shrink wrapped, such as cabbage. But also there is a lot of local produce here, so it's easy to avoid that. I think mostly it's also the "Western" style to ship something all the way to Hawai'i when it is growing not too far from the store itself.. a lot of local people shop at stores like Safeway that stock shipped produce.. it's unfortunate but it seems to be cheaper.
Was gonna say "ethnic thing means the same as cultural thing", but apparently these days people are using "ethnic" to mean "racial" rather than, well, ethnic?
Ethnic is more specific than cultural; it generally refers to a package deal that includes language, historical narratives, customs, and sometimes religion. You can speak of, for example, Cajun or Sicilian ethnicity, but you can only speak of global consumer culture.
Which is I think what the above was referring to when they said it's cultural and not ethnic; it has to do with cultural factors that cross ethnic lines.
Cultural things can be transmitted through geographic proximity rather than along ethnic lines, using "ethnic" in its original sense of "from a foreign nation" (ethnos).
Frequently in the United States, people interpret mainstream white culture as "normal" and not culturally distinct. Thus they use "ethnic" as a synonym for "nonwhite" or "non-American".
I don't think that's a cultural thing, and certainly not an ethnic thing. I think it might have something to do with how many generations-removed one is from agrarian life (or close physical/logistical proximity to it)... Growing up in my (very white) hometown in New England, which still had plenty of farms at the time, it was well understood that the good produce was seasonal and not available in chain supermarkets.