| Summary: | <p>During my fieldwork in rural China, the question of what I was fed by my landlady was a matter of great contention amongst villagers. Locals competing for my (financial?) attention questioned her entitlement and her dignity as a host on the basis of her refusal to purchase meat every day. Criticising her for feeding me poorly emerged as a way to undermine the authority of my host, her ability to care and fulfil her responsibilities to the welfare of her family. This paper will look at eating practices in one village in rural Sichuan (China) and compare the diet of two families: my host family and a family that fiercely competed for my interest. In light of these examples, I will argue that claims to having a particular diet serve to articulate social identities, as an embodied idiom of social distinction in Pierre Bourdieu's sense (1984).</p><p>Diet has undergone dramtic changes in China since the onset of reforms, configuring differences in experiential horizons between generations and social groups. Following Bourdieu, I argue that income is not a straightforward determinant of food consumption. Choices with regard to food at once depend on various competing hierarchies of values and serve to constitute them. Some villagers have embraced the relative opportunity for a better diet by investing in food, especially milk and meat. These investments are part and parcel of a life trajectory towards a modern and urban-like life of comfort and well being, unencumbered by financial barriers. Others, amongsth whom my host family, have rejected the consumerist quest for superfluos, conspicuous and (according to them) unhealthy consumption. Instead, they have adopted frugality which relies on the family's produce and the defend this simple diet as a healthier and sounder approach to both eating and family economy. I argue that parameters differ, but the aim is in both cases distinction and authority established by prioritising between more or less worthwhile investments, and thereby caring for family and guests. With reference to ethnographic examples, I show that the definition of what constitutes 'eating well' is not given but rather constantly negotiated. At stake in these disputes is not only the villagers' bodily health, but also their 'social health', their position and acceptance as members of the local community.</p>
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