The Food Heroes Program Helps Kids Become
Better Eaters with Healthy Bodies and Minds
Food Heroes is the first food education program designed to integrate nutrition and sustainability.
We focus on behavior change by teaching Chinese children how to eat in a way that is good for them and for the planet.
Empowering children — with every bite they take — will help turn the tide on personal and planetary health.
Food Heroes Introductory Presentation
Volunteer Brochure
China is facing a health crisis.
Overconsumption, increased Westernization of diets, and urban sedentary lifestyles have created an alarming rise in obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. Nearly one-fifth of all Chinese children are now considered overweight, and 168 million Chinese people are diabetic.
China’s health crisis is a planetary crisis. Recent changes in Chinese diets, such as increased demands for meat and dairy, have led to land degradation, water scarcity, and pollution.
We believe that directly targeting dietary habits will benefit the environment at a societal scale. There is no existing food curriculum in China, so the time is ripe to reinvent a way to talk to kids about food.
Big change can be catalyzed through simple choices. By adopting a fruit and vegetable centered diet, children can reduce their personal emissions by up to 40%. China, with its large population and receptivity to change, is the battlefront for climate change.
1/5
OF CHINESE CHILDREN ARE OVERWEIGHT
12%
OF CHINA'S POPULATION IS DIABETIC
1.4 billion
PEOPLE'S DIETARY HABITS CAN BE AFFECTED BY FOOD HEROES
Media & Press
Partnership with the UN 10 YFP and One Planet Network
What is the 10YFP?
At the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, Heads of State converged around the idea that fundamental changes in our production and consumption patterns are indispensable to achieving long-term sustainable development.
In order to move towards Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) patterns, Heads of State at Rio+20 committed to adopt the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (10YFP).
The 10YFP generates collective impact through multi-stakeholder programmes and partnerships, which develop, replicate and scale up SCP policies and initiatives at all levels.
What is the One Planet Network?
To implement 10YFP the One Planet Network (OPN) was formed. The OPN is al multi-
stakeholder partnership with the aim to scale up collective action towards SDG 12, Sustainable Consumption and Production.
The OPN is composed of six global programmes, of which JUCCCE is a member of Sustainable Lifestyles and Education (SLE) programme.
The SLE programme is co-led by the Ministry of Environment of Japan and the Government of Sweden, represented by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) respectively.
JUCCCE and the SLE
JUCCCE, through our Food Heroes project, is a partner of the Sustainable Lifestyles and Education programme- one of 6 global programmes under the One Planet Network that generates collective action towards achieving SDG 12 Sustainable Consumption and Production.
Through the SLE programme our organization collaborates with businesses, institutions and governments across the world to foster the uptake of sustainable lifestyles as the common norm. The programme develops tools and projects that can be scaled up to address global challenges such as resource efficiency, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, poverty eradication and social well-being.
Learn more about the One Planet Network and the SLE programme here:
https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sustainable-lifestyles-and-education
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all of the following people for your invaluable help in making Food Heroes a reality!
Key contributors: Peggy Liu (Chairperson, JUCCCE), David Agus MD (Professor of Medicine and Engineering at the University of Southern California, author of “The End of Illness”), Walter Willett MD DrPH (Chair, Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), Barry Popkin PhD (W. R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health), Gunhild A Stordalen MD PhD (Director, EAT Initiative/EAT Stockholm Food Forum), Brett Rierson (Head, World Food Programme, China), Laura Jana MD FAAP (Director of Innovation, University of Nebraska College of Public Health), Kirk Bergstrom (President, WorldLink), Alan Dangour (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), Prof. Sir Andy Haines (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), Dr. Rosemary Green (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), Lili Jia (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), Prof. Hugh Montgomery (Director, UCL Inst for Human Health and Performance), John Elkington (Executive Chairman, Volans Ventures, Honorary Chairman of SustainAbility), Dr. Linda Friedland (Nutritionist, Australia), Fiona Gately (Nourish Communication), Dr. Tara Garnett (FCRN, Oxford University), Roy Ballam (Education Programme Manager, British Nutrition Foundation), Neil Lovell (CEO, Jamie Oliver Food Foundation), Juliane Caillouette Noble (School Programmes Manager, Jamie Oliver Food Foundation), Louise Holland (Deputy to Jamie Oliver, The Jamie Oliver Group), Anthony Lilley (Magic Lantern), Colin Bullen (Health at Work), Myles Bremner (School Food Plan), Katy Cooper (C3 Collaboration for Health), Christine Hancock (C3 Collaboration for Health), Tim Wang (CEO, Ecolab China), Magic Breakfast (UK), The End of the Line, Anne Heughan (Unilever), Gae Redoblado (Unilever), Claire Hughes (Nutritionist, Marks & Spencer), Rasmus Taun (Photography), Kimberly Wong (Director of Sproutworks), Kimberly Ashton (Chief Officer, Sprout Lifestyle), Andrew Wong (Beach Creative), Lucy Guyard (Designer), Kevin Ong (Designer), Kyle Mertensmeyer (Creative), Paul Iglesia (Creative), Malcolm Casselle, Mercedes Revy (Head, China Nutrition and Food Safety, World Health Organization, China), Lu Mai 卢迈 (Secretary General, China Development Research Foundation), Qian Zhang 张倩 (China Center for Disease Control), Antony Froggatt (Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House), Rob Bailey (Research Director, Chatham House), Prof. Yuexin Yang (President, China Nutrition Society) Prof. Liu Xin 刘新 (Tsinghua University), Prof. Yuan Bo 原博 (Tsinghua University), Stefano Bosello (Head, Chartwells Catering, China), Dana Jiang (Nutritionist, Chartwells Catering, China), Viktor Serafimov (Chartwells Catering, China), YB. Song (Founder, Dashu Wujie), Daisy Zhang (Element Fresh), Sandra Brown (Shanghai pilot school YK Pao), Graeme Kennedy (Director of Communications, Wellington College International Shanghai), Nicola Street (Teacher, Wellington College International Shanghai), Michelle Kolossy (Teacher, Wellington College International Shanghai), Alexandra Blake (Teacher, Wellington College International Shanghai), Cristina Ng (Teacher, Liaoyuan Elementary School), Malcolm Shu (Managing Partner, Sproutworks), QXKids 创想号 (Children’s educational magazine), EAT Forum, Christian Orlandi and Matt Eddy (Sportsworld), M&Y Group - Early Education, Ariel Qi (Hope 'n Rising), Yukai Chou and team (Octalysis), Augmentum - Web Development Team, Danone, Supernanny TV, Scott Goodfellow (Pure SH PR and Communications), Lai Mei Yeung (Bella Napoli).
Recipe contributors: Dashu Wujie restaurant, Element Fresh, Sprout Lifestyles (Kimberly Ashton), Farmhouse Juice (Uriel Copelev and Ena), Madison restaurant (Austin Hu), Awakening restaurant, Sproutworks.
Project Directors: Katherine Boe, Lucy Luo, Charlie Mathews, Stephanie Marmier
Researchers: Nicole Adler, Michelle Chan, Henry Chen, Jennie Chen, Olivia Chen, Wee Leng Cheong, Derek Dai, George Day-Reiss, Laurelin Haas, Finola Hackett, Nathan Hayes, Noel He, Michael Homer, Amy Hua, Sophia Hua, Vivian Huang, Michelle Jia, Jiao Chun Ting 焦骏婷, Margaret Lane, Diana Lee, Li Kai Yue 李恺悦, Li Zhuojun 李卓君, Lu Shanshan 陆珊珊, Luxi Liu, Paul Liu, Rachel Mok, Calli Obern, Taylor Patrash, Kate Price, Rodrigo Saavedra, Claire Sun, Rebecca Tanda, Jean Walsh, Yale Wang, Alex Wong, Stephanie Wong, Sylvia Wong, Ju Yu, Xiao Yuan 肖媛, Alex Zheng, Mason McCormack, Cory McCormack, Sarah Merkt.