Food and Diet Issues

In Australia, we are accustomed to different foods. We are used to going out to restaurants and asking “Shall we have Chinese? Indian? Italian? Lebanese? etc etc…”. Filipinos are not. They are a bit like Australians in the 1950’s who lived on “meat and three veg”, and couldn’t cope with anything different. Chances are your girl hasn’t eaten a broad range of different foods, therefore her tolerance for different foods will probably be very limited. Plonking her down to lamb chops and mashed potato will most likely be a problem for her. And force-feeding her vegemite will probably make her vomit.

Those of you who have been to the Philippines will be aware that food means: rice plus something else. If they are very poor, it may mean: rice plus nothing, much of the time. The keyword is RICE. She will crave rice, and she will crave it at every meal….including breakfast.

Just be understanding of her needs, especially when she first arrives. But you need to also make sure she knows how people eat in Australia, or she will have problems. If 6 – 12 months after she arrives she cannot eat a meal without rice, you will find this will be a huge restriction on your lives. You will be limited in where you can go and where you can visit. If you have to pre-warn friends that there must be a fresh pot of steamed rice and a selection of fried fish waiting for you, you will soon run out of friends. You won’t even be able to visit Ronald McDonald! Give and take! Your diet should change, and so should hers.