On World Food Day, an open appeal called on chefs nationwide to refuse to use genetically modified ingredients in their dishes
Keep GMO Ingredients Out of the Kitchen: Change the World Through Cooking
Chefs nationwide invited to join the "GMO Ingredients Out of the Kitchen" campaign
With growing awareness of green consumption and local ingredients, more and more culinary professionals are choosing seasonal, local, environmentally friendly ingredients, conveying through their cooking the idea of harmonious coexistence with nature and sparking a new wave of dietary revolution.
In September 2011, renowned chefs from around the world jointly issued the "Lima Declaration: An Open Letter to the Chefs of Tomorrow"* in Peru, describing cooking as both a powerful and transformative tool, and expressing the hope that the new generation of chefs will actively participate in society, contributing their professional skills to sustainable development. Food is a gift from nature, agriculture is a dialogue between humans and nature, and cooking embodies the transmission and reinvention of culture; chefs also bear the responsibility for socioeconomic issues, the spread of knowledge and moral values.
Over the course of three to four years, food safety scandals occurred frequently in Taiwan, China, among which genetically modified foods were the broadest in scope and the most controversial. Most discussions have focused on their safety risks, on which there is still no global consensus. However, the social impact behind the GMO issue cannot be ignored: multinational agribusiness giants controlling seed patents, countries heavily dependent on imported GM crops losing their food sovereignty, the cultivation of GM crops leading to heavy pesticide use that affects the environment and ecology, and the loss of land justice in third-world countries. All of this shows that the GMO food problems that have surfaced so far are only the tip of the iceberg.
At the end of 2014, the "Campus Lunch Goes Non-GMO" action team launched the "GMO Ingredients Out of School Lunches" campaign, citing three reasons, namely that safety risks remain unresolved, concerns over excessive pesticide residues, and feed-grade soybeans, and demanded that candidates sign a pledge to drive GM soy products out of schools after being elected. One year later today, 19 county and city heads nationwide have responded and have successively formulated related policies.
However, school lunch is, after all, only one meal of the day. Given the thriving dining-out culture in Taiwan, China, to avoid the potential risks of GMO foods, beyond consumers being self-aware, chefs who hold the decision-making power over ingredients standing up and refusing GMO ingredients is also a key force.
Gastón Acurio, the famed Peruvian chef and co-drafter of the Lima Declaration, said in an interview with Taiwan media: "You have to think about where you are cooking, how you cook, and what impact it has on yourself, the environment, the economy, society and health. If you put all of this into your cooking, people will love and respect you more, so you must be prepared on these issues to cook better."**
October 16 is World Food Day. We sincerely invite chefs nationwide to join the "Keep GMO Ingredients Out of the Kitchen: Change the World Through Cooking" campaign, so that GMO ingredients no longer appear on the dining table.***
For yourselves, for the next generation, for the environment, for the land, and for friends far away whom we have never met, do your part as a culinary professional.
Campus Lunch Goes Non-GMO Action Team 2015.10.16
*"LIMA DECLARATION - Open letter to the chefs of tomorrow"
***GMO ingredients: agricultural products and primary processed products, such as corn, corn flour, soybeans, soybean flour, tofu, soy milk, tofu skin, dried tofu, douhua and vegetarian meat products made from soy protein.
[How to respond]
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