(Hong Kong, 29th May, 2014) “Think. Cook. Save”, a Health and Food Education program launched by Go.Asia, Alvina Cookery and Towngas Cooking Centre, hosted a cooking demonstration as part of their Health and Food Education Campaign today at Towngas Cooking Centre and announced the results of a survey they had conducted.

Celebrities, including former Commissioner of Police Mr Dick Lee, famous artist Egg Cheng, children’s show hosts Helen Tam, Harry Wong, children’s songwriter Purple Lee, and Alvina Cookery founder Alvina Chan, took part together with nine mini masterchefs to express their enthusiastic support towards this meaningful program. Reinforcing the concept of ‘Igniting the Passion of Cooking’, Alvina encouraged home cooking and strengthened the guests’ understanding of food preparation by teaching them how to make some healthy and easy dishes.

  

In May this year, “Think. Cook. Save” Health and Food Education Campaign commissioned Croton Consultant Limited to conduct a survey about ‘Food Knowledge, Cooking Skills & Cherishing Food’ with 510 interviewees. According to the results, 64% of the interviewees take note of food labels when they buy food; yet 64% of them cannot comprehend half of the content on food packaging. In terms of cooking skills, over 80% (82.91%) of the interviewees have cooked, but half (50.1%) of them think preparing a meal is a difficult task. Regarding food saving, 42.44% of the interviewees do not use cooking ingredients to their fullest, and almost all (99.21%) think that teaching children to treasure food is essential.

Miss Beatrice Chan, Co-Founder of“Think. Cook. Save” Health and Food Education Campaign and Chief of Go. Asia, stated that: ‘Hongkongers rely heavily on processed food; however, they do not understand half of the food labels. This suggests that we can never be up to date with the rapid increase in the variety of chemical additives in processed food. On the other hand, it also reflects that we lack basic relevant food knowledge. Additionally, cooking can be easy and not time-consuming at all; even children can master simple cooking skills. Neighbouring countries have already been providing diet education to children for years, teaching them food knowledge and basic cooking skills, so there is absolutely no reason for Hong Kong to lag behind.’

Ms. Alvina Chan, another co-Founder of the “Think. Cook. Save” Health and Food Education Campaign and founder of Alvina Cookery, said: ‘It is vital to realise that a healthy body is the required foundation for our children to learn, develop and shine. Therefore, we must educate our children how to take good care of their body by choosing the right food to consume starting from childhood. Furthermore, food & health education is also a tool to train our next generation on self-sufficiency and responsibility. I hope this book will provide the foundation for food & health education by simplifying what healthy diet means, providing a structure for early childhood home education and leveraging cooking as a family bonding with love!”

Partner of “Think. Cook. Save” Health and Food Education Campaign, representative of Towngas Cooking Centre, Miss Vivien Kan (Retail Business Development Manager) went on to explain that ‘children’s education on using eco-friendly energy and healthy method on cooking is a crucial part of the “Think. Cook. Save” campaign. We hope that children will share their acquired knowledge with family members, passing on the torch to benefit more people.’

To further promote the “Think. Cook. Save” concept, “Think. Cook. Save” will publish a healthy diet guide, the “Think. Cook. Save Education Kit”, in order to systematically educate children on healthy diets. The guide will target parents, teachers and those who are interested in learning more about food and healthy diet. The book will be sold at Towngas Cooking Centre and all major bookstores. All profit will be used to promote local food and health education.

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About “Think.Cook.Save”
The concept of “Think.Cook.Save” aims to promote healthy eating and the cherishing of food resources amongst the younger generation through interactive activities and cooking demonstrations. The FOOD concept is introduced, so as to provide a guideline on designing a nutritious meal, including the allocation of grains, organic vegetables and fruit, omega fatty acids and water. Approximately 70 school visits will be arranged in the first year to talk about health and food and to demonstrate some basic easy cooking technique to students.

Think : To acquire the basics of food knowledge and learn what a healthy diet is
Cook : Cooking is fun & easy
Save : Treasure your food: in other words, be grateful and be good stewards of the environment

About Food Revolution
Initiated by Jamie Oliver in 2012, Food Revolution is a global campaign that promotes home cooking and healthy eating. 230,000 participants and 121 countries have been involved in this year alone. In Hong Kong, Go.Asia has taken the lead in organising the Food Revolution campaign, working with the F&B sector and non-profit organisations to promote the importance of healthy home cooking, reducing food waste and urban farming.

About Go.Asia (Organiser)
Appointed by the United Nations to promote healthy eating & anti-food waste in Hong Kong, Go.Asia is a charity organization spearheaded by Hong Kong Martial Arts Superstar Donnie Yen, his wife Ms. Cissy Wang and the DotAsia Organisation.
Its aim is to improve society through collective and individual efforts. Go.Asia’s flagship projects include Food Revoluation, initated by Jamie Oliver, provides free health diet education to primary and secondary school students through the “Think. Cook. Save” program and encouraging voluntary work in Nelson Mandela International Day. Every “.Asia” domain contributes to the development of the Internet in Asia.

About Alvina Chan / Alvina Cookery (Partner)
After graduating from Columbia University and Georgetown University, Alvina spent 7 years on Wall Street in New York & Hong Kong. Passionate about her culinary dreams, she attended Le Cordon Bleu Paris and achieved remarkable results, obtaining 1st in French Cuisine with “Mention Bien” (Distinction). Given her positive influence in food culture promoting Healthy Cooking & Respect for Food, she is now the first disciple of Willie Mark, an internationally recognized food critic. Author of two books: “Banquets for the Soul,” & “Alone in Paris – Transforming Perspectives in the World’s Most Famous Cooking School,” She is now also a TV culinary show host for TVB and Creation TV. Alvina’s culinary aim is to spread Christian values through her cooking, whereby creating simple and healthy recipes such that cooking becomes an expression of love and care to family & friends.

About Towngas Cooking Centre (Partner)
The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited officially established Towngas Cooking Centre in May 1977. For 37 years, we have promoted the joy of flame cooking to inter-generational customers. Our passionate supports for home dining and array of complimentary services have made us a legend in its own lifetime.

We use the interactive teaching methods for students to acquire basic culinary knowledge to in-depth cooking skills. In the new Towngas Cooking Centre at Lee Theatre, we introduce “Towngas KIDchen” equipped with cooking tables with adjustable heights for young kids and “Fun to Cook” service for youngsters so members at all ages can further enjoy flame cooking with us.

We are also devoted to provide education on healthy living to schools so that students can know more about knowledge on healthy diet. Our professional cooking tutors do school demonstration and let children to experience the making of tasty dishes from the very basic and nutritious ‘real food’, with the use of low carbon energy and healthy cooking method.

We believe that education is a good way to start our Healthy, Environmentally- friendly, and Good Quality life!