Beijing’s very own healthy foods community organization, Farm to Neighbors, convened its first Jamie Oliver Food Revolution event last week.  If you recall, beijingkids attended the Farm to Neighbors Call to Action meeting on May 19^th, the official Jamie Oliver Food Revolution Day.  We wrote about the volunteers’ brainstorming session led by Farm to Neighbors, as each attempted to envision how they could educate the local Beijing community.

So what is Farm to Neighbors’ led Food Revolution aiming to educate us on?  Exactly what they have always been teaching us about:

• Food education (especially on nutrition and healthy eating)
• Where our food comes from (how it’s produced)
• How the “public health crisis” (of growing percentages of obesity in younger and younger children, along with other food related illnesses), is not just a Western concept. Most importantly, how eating right can prevent the onslaught of obesity and various related conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease (the number one killer in developed countries).

Specifically, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (JOFR) is a public call to action, encouraging everyone to petition schools on changing food policies in cafeterias (school lunches), etc.  However, Erica Huang, founder of Farm to Neighbors, emphasizes that the local version of JOFR is not a public call to action, for obvious reasons. Instead, the goals of the entirely volunteer-based movement are to educate the Beijing Chinese and international community on the fundamental points of JOFR.

The first Food Revolution event of the series took place on Sunday, June 19^th, a month after the initial planning meeting. It was hosted by Farm to Neighbors and the Beijing Mindfulness Centre (BMC) at the YOGASUMMIT (at the Grand Summit, above the regular Farm to Neighbors market).  The bilingual workshops were on Mindful Eating Practices, with a kids’ session (ages 6-14) and an adult session, lasting two hours in total.

The goal of the children’s workshop was to help children experience slowness, learn how to establish a relationship with food, and understand the differences between Hunger, Appetite, and Emotional eating. BMC states that by mastering mindful eating, children will grow up with the long-term benefits of reduced anxiety and depression, as well as a better relationship with parents, teachers, and peers.

The session began with tasting little bits of food very, very slowly. While the kids’ savored their tiny portions of dark chocolate, cucumber, and carrot (all from the Farm to Neighbors market), Dalida Turkovic, founder of BMC, explained the origins of the food they were eating. Using enlarged photos, Turkovic described how the food is grown, processed, and made into what’s on the kids’ plates. Children were surprised to learn that chocolate is made from cocoa beans, which are large and grow on trees!

The purpose of the mindful eating practice session is therefore not just to slow down while you eat and really taste what is put in your mouth, but to also observe and think about where one’s food comes from and how it’s made.  By learning such habits, children will eventually be able to make better food choices.

For our readers, Turkovic has a few recommendations on how to inspire mindful eating at home:

1. Establish your own mindful eating practices.
2. Be playful and make it fun!
3. Keep it simple.
4. Avoid a punishment and rewards approach.
5. Let your children know that “emotions are like the weather”. Talk openly about emotions and help them notice that they are constantly changing.

Sound advice, and similar to what a nutritionist recommended to us previously on inspiring healthy eating habits in our children!

The next JOFR meeting in the Farm to Neighbors’ series is titled: The Future of Foodie, and takes place on Friday June 24, from 2:30-4:30pm at The Hatchery. The RMB 20 entrance fee includes a drink from the Hatchery. For more information, follow the Farm to Neighbors WeChat, which now provides news blasts on the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution movement (including a summary of the recent Eat Stockholm Food Forum) and find out more about how Farm to Neighbors can help revolutionize your eating habits!

Photos: courtesy of Farm to Neighbors (WeChat), Jamie Oliver Food Revolution

When Erica of Farm to Neighbors moved to Beijing, she started developing skin and health issues.  She could hardly recognize herself in the mirror after living here for a year.

The doctor gave her a hard choice: take a strong drug with serious after-affects or start the paleo diet. 

The paleo diet is based on the principles of only eating food our archaic ancestors could get on their own: meat and organic vegetables, essentially.  Through the change in diet, Erica befriended a woman who supplied fresh produce for international schools. During the following summer break and in order to prevent the drop in trade her friend was experiencing, Erica organized a small sale in the hutong area, inviting all her friends to come. The idea became popular among other farmers, and that’s how the Farm to Neighbors weekend fair was born.

The mission of the Farm to Neighbors team is to educate the masses about food, with further sustainable and nourishing lifestyle to every body and mind. Changing people’s conception and habits of eating is challenging, but is also crucial now for both human and environmental well being. The example of Jamie Oliver, who went through enormous challenges while implementing his Food Revolution project, became very inspiring to Erica.

Food Revolution is the name of a project started by world-famous UK chef Jamie Oliver, the goal of which is to provide children with healthy nourishment instead of junk snacks, and an understanding of food culture. Jamie started this campaign a year ago together with launching the TV show of the same name. He went around U.S. and U.K. schools, persuading students, their families, and staff of the importance of the right eating habits, proving it with data about childhood obesity. The results were satisfying – he managed to change the dining menu of schools visited and draw public attention to that problem in other countries. However, Western and Asian approaches are not the same, and China needs to find its specific way to healthy food.

With this vision in mind, Erica set up the first volunteer meeting, which took place last Friday, May 20. Everyone who came went through a selection process proving interest and potential benefit added to the campaign. The volunteers included chefs, restaurant owners, farmers, a yoga instructor, an international law specialist, software developers, a graphic designer, and an international school professor.

As Erica and her team members shared their interest in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution project, they agreed to follow its main principles and ideas, along with adapting to Chinese traditions for greater impact in Beijing.

Everyone who came had to go through a selection process proving interest and potential benefit can be brought to the campaign. So, there were representatives from food industry: chefs, restaurant owners, farmers; a yoga instructor, an international law specialist, software developers and a graphic designer, and an international school professor.

While discussing Beijing’s food culture, they mentioned that “healthy food” sounds boring and unattractive to children – which comes from their parents, who don’t have a real understanding of what “healthy food” means. Another key issue is that there’s no guarantee of observance of basic sanitary norms in many street food stands. People also have no trust in“green food” producers. The hardest issue is that “healthy eating”is considered to only be applicable to wealthy citizens.

After this discussion, Erica gave everyone feedback on what was already done in order to promote Food Revolution. One of the first things was a translation of Jamie Oliver’s song to Chinese. It is much harder with the top ten recipes, which are wide known in the West. These are simple, tasty and nutritious food recipes that are a must-know for each family and are enough to set up a healthy and varied diet. However, they won’t be popular in China due to the food culture difference.

So the main objective for the Food Revolution volunteer team is to create analogs to these recipes that will find a positive feedback among Chinese citizens. “It can all be summed up into 3 sentences: ‘Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’

“And traditional Chinese recipes are just what we need,” commented Jamie, a chef. “They include specific sauces and a special way of vegetable preparation, adding a unique taste and aroma to every dish.”

During the brainstorming, a few other good ideas arose. Sharing days of healthy lunch preparation with your colleagues, for example, is not time-consuming. Or a good way of making others think of what they eat can be a so-called “mindful yoga session” where one is taught to distinguish the taste of every piece of food chewed.

The strong side of the Food Revolution activist team is that they all have a great passion for what they are doing and a vigorous desire to spread healthy food thinking around. The future plans include attracting more interested people. They hope to attract young families, students looking for inspiration for their school projects, and all busy people who have little time to think about their health.The team plans to hold a Food Revolution meeting every month. Those who feel enthusiastic about joining the project and would like to attend future meetings, can contact Erica directly by WeChat or telephone (18600116714).