More from Sunday's "Garden of Lovely"

If you're interested in the checking out the online reaction to Sunday's "Garden of Media", please check out the Twitter chatter (#SMWHKLovely) as well as Bonza Pie Head Honcho Bess Hepworth's micro-documents of the event on Viddy. Here a few more photos from the day:

TFT HK Monday Update: "Garden of Lovely"

 Yesterday's "Garden of Lovely" was a resounding success, with community members coming out from all over Hong Kong to create a spontaneous, playful art "garden", listen to acoustic music, learn about growing food in the city, and hear about how various groups are helping lead the way to a more  sustainable, environmentally-conscious Hong Kong.  During the "Garden Enviro-Symposium", representatives from TFT HK, Bonza Pie, Friends of the Earth, urban farming organization Time to Grow, Ocean Recovery Alliance, and Clean Air Network were asked about what currently inspires (Hong Kong people's apparent readiness for change, and enthusiasm for new sustainability initiatives) and frustrates (lack of infrastructure for recycling, waste of food and non-edible materials, excess of air conditioning in malls, unhealthily polluted ocean waters) them about Hong Kong, and gave insight into the ways that each of their organizations are celebrating and supporting a sustainable future.  Here are a couple of photos from this inspiring and whimsical event! Thanks to Localiiz and Bonza Pie for inviting TFT to take part!

"Garden of Lovely": TFT HK's Creative Agencies Design Showcase (CADS) Submission

The creators of the "Garden of Lovely" have asked TFT HK to be part of an online competition with several creative agencies called CADS (Creative Agencies Design Showcase). All participants were asked to design a plasticine creation, to be judged in the online and displayed in Sunday's "garden". The competition will soon be up on Localiiz, where you can view submissions from all 8 teams and vote for your favorite!

Our TFT HK submission was, constructed with a dim sum basket and puff clay, was created by Discovery College student, Alexandra Dupey. Thank you for your beautiful piece, Alexandra!!

"Garden of Lovely" kicks off HK Social Media Week this Sunday!

This Sunday marks the beginning of Social Media Week (SMW)! This year, SMW spans 14 cities, and those cities are putting on nearly 1,000 events to celebrate and share knowledge of all things social media. Hong Kong's Social Media Week is packed with fun, edifying events, and one of the more exciting and unconventional ones will take place this Sunday. Hosted by Bonza Pie, Localiiz at Amical Coffee (1 Sun Street, Wan Chai), the "Garden of Lovely"will grow from 2pm to 8pm on the 23rd. This pop-up "garden" of arts and crafts contributed by local artists and community members (including YOU!) will be accompanied by discussions of environment, the arts, and urban space utilization. TFT HK will be there, chatting about global food imbalance and its relationship to the environment. See below for more information, from the HK SMW site, and links:

On Sunday 23 September from 2pm to 8pm, an immersive and unexpected moment in Hong Kong will emerge beautifully from the concrete jungle in the form of a giant community garden in Wanchai. In this free event, part of Social Media Week Hong Kong, members of the public are invited to create and plant items (and ideas) in a new pop-up laneway garden. This accessible, spontaneous public project aims to bring Hong Kong people closer together to consider the environment they live in.

 The garden will be loaded with art and craft items, including tonnes of plasticine, for anyone who wants to play and contribute. Events in the garden will include local visual artists and street artists onsite, creating works on the spot; two symposiums looking at the way we as environmentalists and artists can change Hong Kong’s urban landscape; urban rooftop gardening workshops, and social media interaction linking people in real and virtual time. The event will culminate in an evening of interactive art and sounds with Lipgloss Media presents… The Observations of Mrs Retallack. Can music help plants to grow? They aim to find out!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/103995649757727/
Program: http://www.localiiz.com/garden
Register: http://socialmediaweek.org/blog/event/the-garden-of-lovely/
Hashtag: #SMWHKlovely

Food Hero Tuesday: Chef Gregoire Michaud

Note from the Editor: Every Tuesday, TFT HK will bring you a post or article from/about one of our local or global food heroes. These are people who inspire us, and whose visions align with the values that TFT espouses and promotes. This week, we bring you a post from Chef Gregoire Michaud, a serious locavore and sustainable food systems advocate who also happens to be the pastry chef at the Four Seasons, an active blogger, and an award-winning cookbook author. In today's post, our food hero recalls a recent dinner he and his fellow Four Seasons chefs created from Zen Organic's produce. Chef Michaud, we at TFT HK salute you!

Locavore feast

Zen Organic figs

"Celebrating Hong Kong's very own food"
By Gregoire Michaud

Could this become a tradition? Could this even become a festival where local food would be praised? I can actually picture the Hong Kong Harvest Festival happening every year during the fall!

No less than ALL the chefs from our kitchens walked the stunning garden alleys of Zen Organic Farm a few weeks ago. Our mission? To harvest figs AND every other fruits and vegetable we felt would fit our dinner on that day! And you know how it went when a star-studded crew of chefs walked around in the most amazing supermarket ever? INSANE!

Local Buzz: Hunger strikes and long life in Hong Kong news

Here are a few recent Hong Kong food and hunger tidbits:

On Sunday, three Hong Kong college students ended their 56-hour hunger strike in protest of the proposed instatement of national curriculum:

http://in.reuters.com/video/2012/09/02/hong-kong-students-end-hunger-strike?videoId=237447094

Men and women of Hong Kong now have the longest life expectancy in the world, and some assert that this is due to Hong Kongers' consumption of traditional Cantonese foods (many of which are steamed) and antioxidant-rich tea; their engagement with work well into their golden years; and even their enjoyment of mahjong, a social activity that also stimulates the brain and encourages memory retention:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/work-mahjong-tea-hong-kong-secrets-longevity-article-1.1150681?pgno=1

Global Food News: Plumpy'Nut to the Rescue

U.S. nonprofit Edesia, which directs high calorie foods to severely underfed children in the developing world, and food manufacturer Nutriset hope that Plumpy'Nut is the answer to global hunger.  Plumpy'Nut is a peanut paste that contains 500 calories per serving, and requires neither preparation nor refrigeration.  UNICEF has reported that it will buy 28,000 metric tons of Plumpy'Nut this year (up from 27,000 metric tons last year) and 32,000 metric tons for 2013. The organization is preparing for  a coming period of food insecurity, due in large part to this year's droughts in the US and UK. The UN, in light of the droughts and consequently poor crop yields,  has warned of food insecurity and food price spikes and has asked the US to suspend ethanol production in an effort to stave off a corn shortage.

Food Hero Tuesday: a quote from Joel Salatin

Note from the Editor: Every Tuesday, TFT HK will bring you a post or article from/about one of our local or global food heroes. These are people who inspire us, and whose visions align with the values that TFT espouses and promotes. This week, we bring you a quote from farmer and local, sustainable food advocate Joel Salatin. Salatin, who appears in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, and in the documentaries Food, Inc. and Fresh, owns and operates Polyface Farms in Swoope Virginia, where he practices organic agriculture and ethical animal husbandry (his animals are raised without harmful chemicals, and he raises them under conditions more like those they would have experienced before domestication). He is also a frequent lecturer, and the author of numerous books, including Folks, This Ain't Normal, the work from which this quote was taken. Joel, we at TFT HK salute you!

“This magical, marvelous food on our plate, this sustenance we absorb, has a story to tell. It has a journey. It leaves a footprint. It leaves a legacy. To eat with reckless abandon, without conscience, without knowledge; folks, this ain't normal.”

― Joel Salatin, Folks, This Ain't Normal: A Farmer's Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World

TFT HK Monday Update: TFT HSDE Wrap-up!

Thank you to all of our partners and supporters for your participation in the TFT Healthy Summer Dining Experience! To our contest winners: Please pick up your prize at the partner restaurant at which your photograph was taken after September 10th and before September 30th. Congratulations!

Winner's Circle

Florence Wong, who has won dinner for two at Mana!

Joan Shang, who has won a Veggie SF appetizer!

Gary Yung, who has won a voucher to Flying Winemaker WineSkool!

Christine Cappio, who has won a Teakha tea set for two!

Esther Chan, who has won a 1-day Genie cleanse!

Nina Rossiter, who has won dinner for two at Light!

Joan Lee, who has won a Grassroots Pantry class/workshop voucher!

Thank you again, everyone!