With a brown rice porridge bowl, steamed brown sugar bun with nuts and pickles, the first Good Food Hero Summit was kicked off on August 10, 2017, in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. It was hosted by Good Food Academy and co-sponsored by Universities & Colleges Vegan Association (UCVA) and Yangzhou Weipu Co., Ltd.
Unknowingly, the first day of the summit had already come to an end. As an editor, I am so excited to tell you that it was a great day today. We are holding a summit about food, so we can't do it without good and delicious food.
The food for lunch was so tasty, but I forgot to ask for the dish names. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
Tea break snacks in the afternoon. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
All the participants favored such delicious and good food. I want to thank all the partners who have supported and participated in this summit, including all the volunteers working in the kitchen, the partners who silently contributed, the participants from all over the country, Tongsheng Charitable Hall and Yangzhou Weipu Co.,Ltd who provided the venue, Shanghai Shiyu Culture Communication Co., Ltd, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. Thank you again for your support!
Volunteers are working in the kitchen. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
One of the collaborators, Yang Jin, is introducing the agenda. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
Particpants play an Ice-breaker to get to know each other. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
Participants are writing self-ntroductions. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
Participants are putting up their self-ntroductions. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
Participants are chatting with each other.
Mr. Jian Yi is doing the opening speech. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
Before the summit, at 8 a.m., Mr. Jian Yi, an independent director and cultural worker, introduced why he initiated the Good Food Academy and held the Good Food Summit. Here are “good food experiences” that he had in recent years:
In 2009, Mr. Jian Yi was invited to make a documentary What's for Dinner?, which revealed the environmental pollution caused by industrial farming and its harmful impact on animals and human health. Since then, he has become a vegetarian and has developed a deeper understanding of food related issues. Through showing documentaries and giving lectures, he has made more people aware of the underlying truths of food.
In 2014, the verified account "何以为食" on WeChat was set up to continue to spread awareness on the cost and reality what we eat.
In 2016, Good Food Academy was founded, and an official website was to build a reliable food education platform.
In the spring of 2017, the “Good Food” promotional tour was implemented. The main goals were to share the truth about food and once again recognize healthy, diverse food. So far, workshops have been held in more than 10 cities across the country to help narrow the gap between people and food.
In May 2017, the project “Good Food Summit” was launched.
……
These are the two main points of Mr. Jian Yi's sharing session:
The Good Food Summit includes three main sections: research, entrepreneurship, and communication. Among them, research is the foundation (keynote 1). Up until present time, there have only been a few original research studies conducted in our country. This summit is to spread knowledge and theories ande this opportunity for people to interact with each other and develop their own food projects. Subsequently, we will select ten "good food scholars" to give comprehensive support (keynote 2). During the three-day summit, we will hold a lecture in the mornings to explain some of the results of the research on international food issues, and in the afternoons, we will have an in-depth discussion on our food concerns in the workshop.
Mia MacDonald, a guest from New York, has been associated with the Good Food Summit ever since she became the producer of What's for Dinner?. Besides, she is a scholar who has taught at Columbia University and New York University and an activist and a policy analyst who has written the autobiography of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maathai.
International guest Mia MacDonald is giving a speech. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
A collection of data released by international authorities:
A population of 7 billion people can consume 70 billion terrestrial animals and 1 trillion aquatic animals.
To provide meat and dairy products, stock-breeding occupies 70% of agricultural land and emits 14.5% of global greenhouse gases.
China's pork production and consumption are half of the world's.
China consumes as much as 175 million cubic meters of fresh water per year just for feeding chickens.
China produces 210,000 tons of antibiotic materials every year, half of which are used to treat people and the other half to cultivate animals.
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As a person who is not very sensitive to statistical numbers, I realized that the food industry, the largest industry in the world, is inflicting an immeasurable impact on the earth. What do these impacts have to do with our theme of "good food"? It turns out that our production and consumption of animal products are accelerating the deterioration of the world's land and resources, including a series of environmental problems such as lack of water resources, deforestation, severe pollution of rivers and groundwater, global warming, and reduction of biodiversity.
But why don't most of us understand this? How should we take action? These are issues that we may need to continue to ponder over at the summit.
Due to his inability to come to the scene, Jeff Sebo, a professor at New York University, shared his opinions on food ethics through a live-broadcasting video.
He raised some questions, such as:
Are we willing to increase happiness or reduce harm as much as possible?
Do we have any moral obligations towards animals?
Do we have a moral obligation to this generation or future generations?
Do we have a moral obligation to our country or other countries?
Do we pay more attention to individuals or groups?
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Dr. Jeff Sebo believes that it is considered moral to most people not to harm the people's interests around them. These are initial ethics that have been brought up from our ancestors. At that time, the impact of human beings on the environment was extremely weak. But the times have changed, and human behavior now has a significant impact on the present and future of Earth. When making food choices, everyone must consider the moral obligations they have to the world and the future. This is the ethics of the new era. If you only consider yourself and only think in the present, the world will collapse. No one can disregard or avoid the problem anymore.
International guest Jeff Sebo is giving a speech through Skype. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
There were so many energetic faces from generations old and young in the UCVA. They were all very active during the questioning session chatted directly to American professors.
Q&A segment after the morning meeting. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
In the afternoon, a parallel session and a workshop were held in Weipu, a quiet ancient residence in Yangzhou. The parallel session's nineshort speechesere respectively and simultaneously stored in the tea room, the study room, and the meditation room.
A speaker in the second parallel session is sharing information. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
The Zaodian team led the workshop's central theme is taking apart the design of the food system. Over 50 delegates were divided into 10 groups. The minor themes included farmers, distributors, logistics, consumers, food processing, colleges, and food healing; given these along with guidance on design thinking helped initiate brainstorming ideas, identifying problems, and exploring solutions.
Group 10 is brainstorming. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
The delegates are working hard. Shot by GaoYang Yuanfan/Yang Surong.
Everyone benefited a lot from the three hours of teamwork and discussion. Some members even said that this workshop was much better than the last one they participated in. The previous workshop was version 1, so this one can be called version 2.
Brainstorm results show. Shot by Xie Boyun/Cao Diao.
A photo of the participants. Shot by Xie Boyun/Cao Diao.
Thank you to all of the participants and guests from all over the world! Thanks again to the volunteers who worked hard to prepare for the summit! And finally, thanks to Yangzhou Weipu Co., Ltd , who provided delicious food and a venue!
Participants share their experiences from the first day. Shot by Qian Qian.
Writer | 陈雁雁
Editor | 小清
