Susan Evans, organiser of the Hong Kong Food Hackathon.
Source:
https://scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3025843/hong-kong-food-hackathon-aims-disrupt-system Short Reads
Hong Kong Food Hackathon aims to ‘disrupt the system’
Believing there is no better time than now to overhaul our eating habits for a healthier population and planet, the three-day workshop and competition will focus on sustainable eating
Sustainable eating is the need of the hour, believe the organisers of the Hong Kong Food Hackathon.
With many of the wildfires raging in the Amazon having been lit by farmers clearing land for cattle grazing, the need for sustainable food production has never felt more urgent.
Hong Kong, which imports 90 per cent of its food supply, including more Brazilian beef than anywhere else in the world, is ripe for an overhaul of its eating habits.
Next month, the city will host its third Food’s Future Summit on innovation in the industry. At last year’s event, Hong Kong-based business incubator Brinc launched a food technology accelerator programme designed to get new ideas off the ground.
Funnelling would-be food entrepreneurs towards Brinc is this month’s Hong Kong Food Hackathon, a three-day workshop and competition focused on sustainable eating. Friday evening will focus on getting participants up to speed on the state of the food industry and recent developments before placing them into teams to brainstorm ideas. Saturday will be about how to put those ideas into action, and will include design, field research, testing and putting together business pitches.
The teams will present their results on Sunday, with the winners decided by a panel that includes University of Hong Kong professor and nutrition expert Tanja Sobko, Brinc founder Manav Gupta and Polytechnic University food technologist Dr Bernard Chang.
“Our aim is to disrupt the food system … to move us into a place where we can grow, distribute and consume food in a way that’s healthier for us as individuals, as a society and for the planet,” says Hackathon organiser Susan Evans, a food and agriculture sustainability expert.
For instance, “one team might want to take on the fishball and make a contemporary version”, she says. “When thinking about the food of the future, the important thing is to create something both delicious and nutritious.”
Places at the hackathon cost HK$490 each, and include meals, drinks and snacks throughout the weekend. Anyone over 18 can apply and a food background is not necessary.
The Hong Kong Food Hackathon will be held from September 20 to 22 at Cook Beyond, 12/F, Luk Hop Industrial Building, 8 Luk Hop Street, San Po Kong. For more information and to sign up, click on Eventbrite.