Xinzhuang Village Good Food Festival

We love mother earth by eating well! YAY!

On the first weekend of the first year of the 2020s, we gathered in Xinzhuang Village, Beijing, with cherishment for every minute and good wishes for future generations. By having this Good Food Festival, we hope to sow seeds that better connect human kind, the sky and the earth.

Flash Lunch in preparation

“Nanshan Night" welcoming party

In only 3 days, we have designed various events, 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 Lightmeal Workshop, by Xiangxiang

Whether it's launching Flash lunch / dinner at a local restaurant or designing creative dishes in a family in the community, it is challenging for chefs to prepare beforehand without knowing the kitchen environment, ingredients, and diners. The world has enough challenges, by those who dare to accept and step forward are rare. As a diner, are you willing to provide valuable advice, for them to further advance their expertise, for you to further 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 grown by yourself, or by a  trustworthy friend

• Nutrition

• Share with family and friends

• Taste

• Organic and vibrant

• Focus on the eating process

To fulfil 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 came together to discuss how to use their respective leadership skills to improve their own health with food and protect the health of the planet. This is also the first time that Chinese chefs have a good connection with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2020 New Year Good Food Fashion Launch is undoubtly a moment to remember!

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 audiencethe organization's perspective on the relation between human development, climate change and biodiversity loss. He concluded that we humans need to solve these human-induced crisis and clean up our own mess. Eating is not anymore a personal matter, but a matter for all of us, a matter that affects our future generations.

Jianyi, Founder 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, Jianyi (founder of the CBCGDF Good Food Fund) brought up the issue of the increasing consumption of animal protein, and the increasingly high environmental costs we all face. Hence, can we start the 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 of plant-based meals. As the first year of 2020s, we need to start the year WELL.

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

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

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

Before sharing food education at Nanshan School, Kaipeng together with 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 all the hardworking people, thanks all the kitchen teachers, and please enjoy your meals slowly.

Vegan snacks provided by a vegan store from 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 from childhood have already started to follow the teacher to take care of the environment, plants and animals in the environment. They are also taught to prepare food. Growing up in such a warm, beautiful and rhythmic life. Children can fully connect with the beauty of food, life and nature. 

Teacher Kaipeng introduced Nanshan School's experiential farming teaching from primary to middle school. Among them, at the middle school level, through the study of nutrition and health, children will pay attention to what exactly feeds us. Is it minerals, protein, starch ... or the vitality in food which comes from the sun absorbed by plants during growth? At the same time, the children will review the eulogy they sang when they were young, thinking deepy about the role of nature. "We do not tell children what they should do. Their feelings for nature has come from their own feelings and learnings from the past."

“We hope to identify and respect the gifts of every children, we hope them to grow healthily, realize their potential, and develop the necessary skills to contribute to society," Teacher 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 Nanshan Community. If 8 years ago, the director of Xinzhuang Village, Zhishui Li, did not choose building a school instead of a factory, we won't be able to see such a vibrant and loving community where people from all around China live and work in peace, 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 in a simple and special way: she brought a locally grown yam to the stage. Why? She said: "Because I think that no matter what role we play in the society, first of all we are life, and life  is very natural. The special thing about this yam is that it is a yam that is taken out of the land completely. However, soil in many places are too compact to do so... If our food comes from non-living soil, can we get enought 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 actions we make.

"I love this school, I love the village, and I hope our children have a good living environment and 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 a bit troublesome, or useless. But it ’s really very different ... We can return our leftovers to the ground, so that the ground still has a chance to recover their vitality. Because only in such a cycle and our gratitude feedback, our world will be a truly perfect circle. "

Melinda Hou, Executive Director of Good Food Fund intoducing 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 collaborated to solicit Chinese characters that represent "Plant Forward". In the end, the word "屮 [cǎo] or [chè] " stood out.

The character of"屮"has four combinations which can be used to express the four stages of people's diet. One 屮 character indicates that a person's diet is dominated by a plant-based diet; the combination of the two 屮 characters indicates that the person's plant-based diet has exceeded 85%. The combination of three 屮 characters indicates that the person is a vegetarian, but may eat some eggs, dairy, honey, etc. The combination of 4 屮 represents a 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 realize how much meat we are consuming. Presenting such specific data and maps, we will know more clearly what kind of situation we are in terms of meat consumption. Data shows that in 2018, Chinese meat consumption reached more than 80 million tons, far ahead of other countries in the world, 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, the health of animals and planet earth. "China Meat Atlas" is now launched online, you can scan the QRcode below to view.

We need a healthier and greener diet to protect future generation and the planet earth. In the new year of 2019, Good Food Fund led China's outstanding chefs to communicate with world-leading schools and companies such as Harvard, Yale, and Google, and released the 2019 New Year menu. We showed the world with the diversity of Chinese ingredients, and also connecting chefs from East and West, showing Chef leadership power from China.

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

In the 2020 Good Food Designer Contest, we received 367 plant-based recipes from foodie, home cook, prefessional chef (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 Chef:" We want the world understand that we love our job. Inheriting the 5000-year-old catering culture of China, we must lead the future of China 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 President Jian Yi presenting awards to Sai Gao

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

What is also inspiring is the presence of the professional chefs signing the international "Chefs' Manifesto". The founder of the "Chefs' Manifesto", Paul Newnham, introduced in detail the origin, operation and future plans of the international chefs network, and how to join. Paul is very much looking forward to seeing more Chinese chefs to take part and show the leadership of chefs together to create a future of zero hunger (including invisible 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 the concepts of Plant Forward and Animal Welfare in future cooking practices. Some members proposed that a "Good Food private house dish" project could be launched. One month one city, a local Good Food Designer is responsible for making a table of private food 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, so as 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 course, the participants were divided into four teams to challenge themselves in the New Year, 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

We sincerely thank you for your support

With much love❤

Lastly, we want to end with another song to thank for our food

(Huge thanks to Shanyu who taught us）

为桌上的美食我心存感激

I am grateful for the food on the table

感谢天地滋养万物众生灵

Thank heaven and earth for nourishing all beings

有耕种的农夫，有炒菜的厨师

There are farmers who farm, chefs who cook

吃饭不浪费，我们好好的用餐

We eat well, and do not waste

为桌上的美食我心存感激

I am grateful for the food on the table

一切都得来不易！

Everything is hard to come by!