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Good Food Festival 2020

The year 2020 has come to an end,

what are your new year wishes?

Here are some wishes from Good Food Fund:

We wish that everyone could step forward to a better future and contribute to the health of humans, animals, and the Earth.

We love our planet, so please eat well! YAY!

On the first weekend of the first year of the 2020s, we gathered in Xinzhuang Village, Beijing. With sincere hope and good wishes for our future generations in the Good Food Festival, we hope to sow seeds that better connect humankind, the sky, and the Earth.

Preparing the flash lunch

Welcoming party: "Nanshan Night."

We have designed various events in only three days, including Xinzhuang Eco-market, Flash Lunch/Dinner, "Nanshan Night" Welcoming party, Good Food Designer Contest, 2020 New Year Good Food Fashion Launch, Chef Leadership Certificate A1, and more...

Health and Nutrition Workshop, by Andrew Nicholls

Traditional cuisine and Light meal Workshop, by Xiangxiang

The Ideal Meal

Whether it's launching Flash lunch/dinner at a local restaurant or designing creative dishes in a family in the community, chefs faced many challenges to prepare beforehand without knowing the kitchen environment, ingredients, and diners. The world has enough challenges, but those who dare to accept and step forward are rare. As a diner, are you willing to provide valuable advice for them to advance their expertise further, for you to also satisfy your appetite, and for everyone to take better care of the Earth that we all live in?

What is an ideal meal for you? Please let us know your choice of order in the comment section.

- Healthy ingredients are grown by yourself or by a trustworthy friend.

- Nutrition

- Share with family and friends.

- Taste

- Organic and vibrant

- Focus on the eating process

Good Food Fashion Launch

To fulfill our dreams of having an ideal meal, the New Year Food Awards was officially held in Xinzhuang Village, Beijing, on January 5, 2020. Individuals, families, institutions, and communities discussed how to use their leadership skills to protect and improve their personal and environmental health with better food. This is also the first time Chinese chefs have a good connection with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2020 New Year Good Food Fashion Launch is undoubtedly a memorable moment!

Welcoming Speech by Dr. Jinfeng Zhou, Secretary-General of CBCGDF

What has biodiversity and green development to do with "eating well"? Dr. Jinfeng Zhou, Secretary-General of CBCGDF, shared with the audience the organization's idea about the relation between human development, climate change, and biodiversity loss. He concluded that humans need to solve these human-induced crises and clean up their mess. Eating is not a personal matter anymore, but a concern for all of us and affects our future generations.

Jianyi, Founder and Director of Good Food Fund, CBCGDF, introducing "Good Food Pledge"

Why does the Good Food Fund advocate the importance of "eating well"? Why launch a New Year Menu? By introducing the changing diets through history, Jian Yi (founder of the CBCGDF Good Food Fund) brought up the increasing consumption of animal protein and the increasingly high environmental costs we all face. Hence, can we begin to change from the most important meal of the year-New Year's Eve? How can we eat healthier and greener? Good Food Designer contest is one of our attempts to bring more popularity to plant-based meals. As the first year of the 2020s, we need to start the year WELL.

Welcoming Speech by Qun Sun, Secretary-General of Slow Food Great China

"What kind of food do we need? How is food produced, consumed, and recycled? Good Food Fund has brought up these questions, and the answer lies in everyone one of us." Slow Food Great China's General Secretary Qun Sun expressed his view on human beings' most common and basic needs.

Kaipeng Hu, Founder of Nanshan School, sharing her understanding of food and education

Before sharing food education at Nanshan School, Kaipeng and other teachers at Nanshan sang a beautiful song to show gratitude for food:

大地妈妈，大地妈妈，赋予种子以生命

Mother earth, mother earth, gives seeds life.

太阳爸爸，太阳爸爸，让那种子去生根

Father sun, father sun, gives seeds root.

雨儿姐姐，雨儿姐姐，让那种子去发芽

Sister rain, sister rain, gives seeds sprout.

风儿哥哥，风儿哥哥，让那种子去生长

Brother wind, brother wind, gives seeds growth.

大地太阳，雨儿风儿，谢谢你们的工作

earth and sun, rain and wind, we thank you for your work.

感谢辛勤工作的人民，感谢厨房的老师们，老师小朋友请慢用

Thanks to all the hardworking people, thanks to all the kitchen teachers, and please enjoy your meals slowly.

Vegan snacks provided by a vegan store from the Nanshan community

"This is the song students, and teachers will sing together before every meal."

The food education at Nanshan School starts in kindergarten. Children starting from childhood have already learned from the teacher to take care of the environment, plants, and animals. They are also taught to prepare food. They were growing up in such a warm, beautiful and rhythmic life. Children can fully connect with the beauty of food, life, and nature.

Kaipeng introduced Nanshan School's experiential farming teaching from primary to middle school. Among them, at the middle school level, children will pay attention to what feeds us through the study of nutrition and health. Is it minerals, protein, starch, or the vitality in food that comes from the sun absorbed by plants during growth? At the same time, the children will recite the song and think deeply about nature's role. "We do not tell children what they should do. Their feelings for nature have come from their senses and learnings from the past."

"We hope to identify and respect the gifts of every child, and we hope they thrive, reach their potential, and develop the necessary skills to contribute to society," Kaipeng introduced the mission of Nanshan School.

Xinzhuang Village Director Zhishui Li, sharing food and community

The development of Nanshan School is inseparable from the support of the Nanshan Community. Eight years ago, Xinzhuang Village director, Zhishui Li, chose to build a school instead of a factory. If Zhishui did not make this decision, we wouldn't have been able to see such a vibrant and loving community where people from all around China live and work, support, and care for each other.

Jing Yang, Founder of Jing Gong Yi (净公益)

Jing Yang, Founder of Jing Gong Yi, presented Xinzhuang's culture simply and uniquely: she brought a locally grown yam to the stage. Why? She said: "Because I think that no matter what role we play in society, first of all, we are living, and life is very natural. The special thing about this yam is that it is taken out of the land completely. However, soil in many places is too compact to do so. If our food comes from non-living soil, how can we get enough energy?" We often seem to hear that "we have no choice," Jing Yang busted this myth by giving a few more examples. Our choice lies in every small action we make.

"I love this school, I love the village, and I hope our children have a good living environment and enough space in the future. Based on our love for them, we are willing to act. When it comes to garbage classification, many people may feel it's a bit troublesome or useless. But it's very different. We can return our leftovers to the ground so that the land still has a chance to recover its vitality. Because only with such a cycle created by our gratitude towards the Earth will our world be a genuinely perfect cycle. in such a process and our gratitude feedback, our world will be a genuinely perfect circle."

Melinda Hou, Executive Director of Good Food Fund, introducing Plant Forward Chinese words

Plant Forward Chinese word: 植物领先汉字 -- "屮 [cǎo] or [chè]" launched

In 2019, Good Food Fund and Toutiao (newspaper) collaborated to solicit Chinese characters representing "Plant Forward." In the end, the word "屮 [cǎo] or [chè] " stood out.

The character of 屮 has four combinations that can express people's diet's four stages. One 屮 character indicates that a plant-based diet dominates a person's diet; combining the two 屮 characters suggests that the person's plant-based diet has exceeded 85% of the population. The combination of three 屮 characters indicates that a person is a vegetarian but may eat some eggs, dairy, honey, etc. The combination of 4 屮 represents a person that is 100% vegan. Everyone can express their current dietary status with different combinations of 屮 characters.

Lingtao Xu, Good Food Fund Statistic Project Director, launching "China Meat Atlas"

Why create a China Meat Atlas?

Because people may not be aware of how much meat we are consuming. By presenting such specific data and maps, we will know what kind of situation we are in meat consumption. Data shows that in 2018, Chinese meat consumption had reached more than 80 million tons, far ahead of other countries globally, and ranked the first in terms of global meat consumption.

"We collected data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and China's database. We then compared and visualized the statistics to help everyone better understand our current situation. We hope people can pay more attention to their health, animals, and planet earth.

We need a healthier and greener diet to protect future generations and the planet earth. In the new year of 2019, Good Food Fund led China's outstanding chefs who have communicated with world-leading schools and companies such as Harvard, Yale, and Google and released the 2019 New Year menu. We showed the world the diversity of Chinese ingredients and connected chefs from East and West, which shows Chinese chefs' leadership.

Jing Zhou, chief program officer of Good Food Fund launching 2020 New Year Menu

In the 2020 Good Food Designer Contest, we received 367 plant-based recipes from foodies, home cooks, professional chefs (until now, we are still receiving more and more uploaded recipes). Based on the themes, illustrations, descriptions, likes of the recipes, etc., we have selected 22 recipes for the 2020 New Year Menu.

Good Food Chefs

Qun Li, spoke on behalf of Good Food Chefs: "We want the world to understand that we love our job. Inheriting the 5000-year-old catering culture of China, we must lead China's future with more eco-friendly food. The world is ours, and also our children's."

The most exciting moment was the announcement of the Good Food Designer Finals. Yan Li, a chef from Guangzhou, gave full play to his "balance" concept: color balance, taste balance, and nutrition balance. He created a millet salad and a reunion dumpling, which impressed the judges and families, and won the special prize.

Dr. Jinfeng Zhou, Secretary-General of CBCGDF, presenting awards to Yan Li

"Yunnan" foodie Sai Gao won the first prize for her philosophical creation "Taisuheyu (太素和鱼)."

Good Food Fund Director Jian Yi presenting awards to Sai Gao

Young chef Fan Jiang selected Hanyuan pear, Red Jujube, and Fenzhou Yellow Rice Wine from the "Ark of Taste" ingredients, and made a unique vegetarian dish: vegetarian foie gras with pear, and won the "Slow Food Special Award."

President of Slow Food Great China, Qiao Ling, presenting the award to Fan Jiang

Melinda Hou, Executive Director of Good Food Fund, presenting awards to Good Food Designer 2nd Prize winners

Good Food Designer 3rd Prize winners and Good Food Chefs

Melinda Hou, Executive Director of Good Food Fund, presenting awards to Flash chefs

What is also inspiring is the professional chefs' presence signing the international "Chefs' Manifesto." The founder of the "Chefs' Manifesto," Paul Newnham, introduced the origin, operation, and plans of the international chef network and how to join. Paul is very much looking forward to seeing more Chinese chefs take part and show chefs' leadership to create a future of no hunger (including hidden hunger).

Founder of "Chefs' Manifesto," Paul Newnham

"Chefs' Manifesto" signing ceremony

During the group discussion, more than a dozen good food designer finalists sat around to discuss how to cooperate with the Good Food Fund to promote Plant Forward and Animal Welfare concepts in future cooking practices. Some members proposed that a "Good Food private house dish" project could be launched. One month in one city, a local Good Food Designer is responsible for making a private food table that meets the "Good Food" standard from farm to table. Invite locals to taste, starting from the first-hand experience of what constitutes a good meal and how to nourish the body and mind, to choose more "good food" in daily life.

Good Food Designers discussion group

The lively discussion at the launch event continued into the chef leadership course on January 6. At the end of the period, the participants were divided into four teams to challenge themselves in the New Year, and challenges include: cooking a meal with their elderly; following the eight "Good Food Pledge" standards to make Chinese New Year's Eve dinner; practicing the first "Meatless Monday" in the Year of the Rat, etc.

Chef Leadership workshop