“Cooking with Cookie Summer Party” Encourages Leftover Food Appreciation

HONG KONG, August 20, 2019 – One of the most beloved and popular Disney friends in the Duffy and friends franchise — Cookie, who celebrates the first anniversary at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort (HKDL), is always seen wearing her chef’s hat and is a big food lover. Today, she joined hands with 160 parents and kids from local charity Benji’s Centre, including kids with communication difficulties and their families, to join the “Cooking with Cookie Summer Party” as part of a special food appreciation project with charity Foodlink Foundation (Foodlink). Participants learned about food appreciation and waste reduction with Cookie under the guidance of HKDL’s Executive Chef and the F&B team.

These days, environmental protection and waste preservation is becoming important in people’s daily lives. In line with this, HKDL is further committing to conserving the planet and helping those in need by collaborating with various partners to work together for the sake of the community, including cherishing resources and keeping waste to a minimum. Over the years, HKDL collaborated with Foodlink whereby safe-to-eat surplus food is collected from the restaurants of the resort’s hotels to be donated to those in need. Today, the participants used creativity and imagination to create lovely Cookie cupcakes, using safe-to-eat surplus food including chocolate end-cut cakes collected from the resort’s hotel restaurants. They were also invited by HKDL to enjoy a buffet lunch made from safe-to-eat surplus food afterward, learning how to transform food waste to food grace!

During the workshop, Executive Chef for Hotels at HKDL, Chef Mak Kam-kui, offered tips on how to regenerate domestic food waste: “Parents can collect safe-to-eat surplus food to regenerate food grace. For example, we can make bread pudding, fruit curry, and fried rice, while fish bones and vegetables can be used to make a delicious and healthy soup. Parents can use waste preservation as a way to create new, educational activities on food appreciation for kids,” said Chef Mak.

Zheng Yu-yan, a six-year-old kindergarten student, joined the event after winning the golden award at a recent food appreciation coloring competition organized by Foodlink and sponsored by HKDL: “Today, I learned how to make my own Cookie cupcakes using leftover food, and I’m excited to teach my classmates when going back to school!” She also said her parents and teachers teach her about the importance of food appreciation: “I never get too much rice in my bowl when I have a meal at home, and my mom will use any leftovers to make congee for another day. We also make refreshments using leftover food to reduce waste.”

Aurea Yung, Head of Operations at Foodlink Foundation, said: “Every day, 3,600 tons of food waste is disposed of in landfills every day but only 1% of it is recycled. The vision for Foodlink Foundation is to provide healthy meals for those in need and to promote turning food waste into food grace to help our environment. We are happy with the continued support from HKDL over the years, helping us collect surplus food from its restaurants and hosting events to help people learn how they can help. We hope these initiatives will bring a positive message to the community, prompting more companies to join us in promoting food appreciation and waste preservation.”

Since 2014, HKDL has collaborated with Foodlink to collect surplus food to distribute to those in need, including elderly homes, underprivileged families and children. Over the years, HKDL has collected over 60 tons of food, helping to create more than 143,000 meals. HKDL’s VoluntEARs program and Foodlink have together organized several community activities, such as cooking classes, children’s parties, talks and more. The partnership’s beneficiaries include the underprivileged and elderly from different districts to share happiness and the message of food appreciation around the town.


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