SUSTAINABILITY IN ASIA


T


here’s no denying the food industry needs to take a leading role in the fight against climate change. According to a recent UN-backed study, food systems are responsible


for producing over a third of human-caused global greenhouse gas emissions. But when it comes to playing their part in reducing the industry’s growing carbon footprint, the big question many operators face is how? Across Asia, which accounts for roughly half of those global emissions, the food industry faces multiple challenges over the coming years: from land degradation and severe effects of climate change to food insecurity exacerbated by growing urban populations and a reliance on inefficient, long-distance supply chains. But innovative players are leading the charge for change.


Tackling the carbon crisis “There’s a way for us to solve the [climate] crisis if we pull enough energy around mobilizing people from the bottom up to get things done rather than wait for the system to change,” says Hong Kong- based chef-restaurateur and founder of Grassroots Initiatives Consultancy, Peggy Chan. Working with operators across the city to reduce their carbon footprint and implement circular practices, Chan explains: “How we reduce our carbon has been a huge conversation this past year.” By the end of 2020, three of Asia’s


largest economies had pledged to go carbon neutral, with Japan and South Korea


committing to transition by 2050 and China by 2060. “But for restaurants to reduce carbon emissions we need to know how to get there, and I would say most [operators] don’t,” says Chan. “What restaurateurs do know is how to reduce our carbon footprint by applying best practices, such as shifting to more plant- based menus, using LED lights, or removing single-use plastics – these are all good, but they’re not at a scale to solve the crisis.” A strong advocate for grassroots activism, Chan recently launched the Asia arm of Zero Foodprint – a California-founded nonprofit that connects stakeholders along the food industry chain to support regenerative agricultural solutions that draw down carbon. One of the main objectives is educating around soil carbon sequestration as a large-scale “nature-based solution to capture carbon from the atmosphere.” Zero Foodprint Asia (ZFPA) is kicking off with a tried-and-tested ZFP initiative: the “1% pledge to restore the planet”, a crowd-funding program that collaborates with restaurants to donate a 1% surcharge from customers’ bills to fund restorative farming practices locally and regionally. “Our goal is to create a renewable food system where we’re no longer subsidizing [damaging] industrial agriculture, but directly funding regenerative farming instead,” says Chan. We want to give food sovereignty and power back to the farmers to do what they do best: take care of our land and soil, and grow good food.”


“Our goal is to create a renewable food system where we’re no longer subsidizing industrial


agriculture, but directly funding regenerative farming instead”


Peggy Chan (above) has set up the Asian arm of Zero Foodprint to encourage a “nature-based solution to capture carbon”


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ASIA PAC


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