This Hong Kong restaurant asks you to bring the food and they cook it up for a good cause
What started as a one-off event to raise awareness about how to reduce food waste in the city has become a regular happening
A unique project has been helping solve the city’s food waste one meal at a time.
According to the charity Feeding Hong Kong, 3,400 tonnes of food are thrown out every day in the city. But what if instead of throwing leftovers into the bin, you could trade them in for a delicious meal?
That is the idea behind XCHANGE: Social Gastronomy, a project that is attempting to raise awareness about “green living” and preventing food surplus from becoming waste through a series of initiatives.
One of those initiatives is Table for U, a tiny eatery at a community space and open kitchen in Fortress Hill. On a recent afternoon, six guests arrived carrying all sorts of food: two bags of instant noodles, three bags of rice, chicken meat and a bag of vegetables.
All that food, which may have been bound for the rubbish, was added the pantry, and a fresh meal was ready – made from previous donations. Diners feasted on scrambled egg with Chinese chives, sautéed pea sprouts with garlic and kimchi soup with assorted vegetables and meat, along with pastries and fruits.
“Respect starts from food,” said the kitchen host and chef, Pia Ho Sau-ping, who is better known as Lili Ho. “If you understand how to respect your food, you know how to treat everything well.”