TFT HK Monday Update!

Video created for TFT HK by Open Classroom's Young Leaders of Tomorrow

Good morning and happy Monday!

Recently, TFT HK was invited to take part in Open Classroom's "Young Leaders of Tomorrow" (YLOT) and "Leadership in Action" programs.  To introduce the bright, driven students participating in these programs to the state of our world food systems, Open Classroom and TFT HK first had them run through a Global Food Imbalance Simulation, created by talented HKIS student (and graduate of the "Young Leaders of Tomorrow" program) Kristofer Siy.  Kristofer was on hand to facilitate the first official run of this exciting educational game.

After the simulation, the YLOT participants were asked to put together visual presentations, to raise awareness of the issues TFT HK addresses, and to urge the adoption of TFT programs in their respective schools.  The "Leaders in Action" participants created and ran a fundraiser, the proceeds of which were donated to Theatre Noir, Hong Kong Honey, and Table for Two HK. Below are a few photos (courtesy of Open Classroom) from the Open Classroom programs, and above is the video created by some of the "Young Leaders of Tomorrow". Thank you to Open Classroom administrators Agnes Kong and Yvonne Chu, Kristofer Siy, and all of the Open Classroom students, for your involvement with and support of Table for Two! And thank you to Grassroots Pantry for donating a gift voucher for the raffle at the "Leaders in Action" fundraiser!

TFT (Japan) Monday Update!

Good Monday!

Today's post is from the TFT Japan Food Team: 

TFT founder, Masa, and dietician, Namiko, at the TFT event at Takashimaya Department store

“No leftovers allowed” Buffet for TABLE FOR TWO held in Tokyo
Author & Editor: Shoko Iijima, TFT Food Team
Reference (in Japanese: http://www.kodamajozo.co.jp/webkura/essei/essay_44.html  

Some of you may already have heard of food critic Masuhiro Yamamoto; he’s become one of the most famous dining and wining tastemakers in Japan. One of our key staff members, Tomoko Kobayashi, recently brought his very interesting blog post to our attention. In his post, Yamamoto reveals that he rarely joins buffet style partes. The reason is simple. Every time he participates in such events, his conscience aches over the vast amount of leftover food and drinks. These edibles are prepared with care and made to look beautiful and delicious, but go to waste when the party is over. 

In the same blog post, Yamamoto reveals that he himself hosted a very special kind of buffet party, titled “No leftovers allowed.” Of course, the title wasn't meant to imply that he forced his guests overeat to clean up the excess on the table. Instead, at his party (filled with like-minded peers), Yamamoto presented reasonable, modest amounts of seasonal delicacies. He also used his shindig as a platform, through which to introduce TABLE FOR TWO to his celebrity guests and highlight the world’s food imbalance problem and obesity in Japan. 

Keen gourmets, restaurant producers, and food writers in Tokyo have started to think more  carefully about healthy eating behaviors. And this awareness and desire to end the global food imbalance has, very luckily, trickled down into public consciousness. In June, Takashimaya Department Store in Nihonbashi (Takashimaya’s flagship store) held TABLE FOR TWO events in their in-store food court restaurants and food boutique shops. On one Sunday, they held an event for children, during which Masa spoke to Tokyo children about the kids TFT supports in Africa, and how they could help them through TABLE FOR TWO. Also at this event, our volunteer Certified Dietitian, Namiko, taught the kids to eat a balanced diet. We are happy to see that public awareness of these issues is on the rise, and we will continue to host events to spread this very important knowledge. We want to say thank you to those people and companies, like Masuhiro Yamamoto and Takashimaya Department store, who put their popularity and influence to good use, and help educate the public about world issues like the global food imbalance.

TFT HK Monday Update!

Two weeks ago, some members of the TFT HK team visited the Changing Young Lives Foundation Sze Pang Nien Baojia Primary School 成長希望基金會施彭年鮑家小學 in Qinghai. Here are a few photos from the site visit! We'll have video clips and a report back from TFT HK founders Katy and Steph soon:

Mountains of Qinghai

Some of the TFT HK team (Steph Tan, Katy Yung, and Yu Cao) with some of the staff and students of Changing Young Lives Foundation Sze Pang Nien Baojia Primary School 成長希望基金會施彭年鮑家小學

Kids of Changing Young Lives Foundation Sze Pang Nien Baojia Primary School 成長希望基金會施彭年鮑家小學  line up for lunch!