Tracing the Source‧Food Capturing My Soul
Gifts from the Mountains—A Root-seeking Journey of Nature and Culture
Eating is an inseparable part of life. As students studying Nutrition and Health Science, we explore the nutrients in food and their effects on the body, but know little about where the dishes on the table come from and what the treasures hidden in the source of food are. These answers were not discovered until we lifted the veil on Jianshi Township in Hsinchu and had a look at the water and mountains covered in clouds. In this journey, besides being impressed by the magnificent scenery, we opened a fantastic "refrigerator", which is how the indigenous people called the Nature.
The secret of the Refrigerator: a connection between humanity and food
The Jinping Bridge incorporated the Atayal culture in its stone carvings, which seems to have formed a bridge connecting history and modernity by telling the story of the tribe and conveying tribe members’ attitudes towards food. Various stories and philosophies can be found from sowing to cultivating, and then harvesting and celebrating ceremonies and singing as well as the final preparation and processing. For Atayal people, the Nature is like a part of their body. They take things from nature and give back to nature, so that a sustainable ecosystem can be maintained.
The Wisdom of Natural Farming: Returning to Nature and Pursuing the Fundamentals
The indigenous people are well aware of the importance of health- friendly land use, and "Natural Farming" is the only law they follow. The so-called natural farming method is actually a process of farming and animal husbandry which uses the most readily available resources around─that is “Nature”. This method not only eliminates chemical pollution but also actualizes the virtuous ecological cycles in a more effectively way. But this is a difficult journey: How to bring back the original soil after it has been eroded by pesticides? How to find a balance betweenamong economic and environmental sustainability and even physical health? There is no general guide for natural farming. It has to be adapted to local conditions to develop the most suitable survival mode for the land and crops. From the growing of crops to animal breeding, even the microorganisms in fermentation—what buried in the soil is the secret recipes and farmers’ earnestness that we can’t see with the naked eyes. The root systems cultivated under the earth symbolize not only the long years of root-seeking efforts made by the hardworking ‘foolish farmers’ but also a proof of sustainable development and the coexistence with nature.
A Gift from the journey: What I learned from Atayal
Although the hard-working small farmers are determined and persevering in the natural way of farming, they lack institutional certification in the market. In order to minimize the burden for farmers to pay for the pesticide residues testing, we visited the fields and conducted pesticide residues testing to provide a double assurance to the consumers. In addition, we exerted our expertise in health and nutrition science to design delicious and healthy diets by using the safe and reliable crops so as to extend the value of food from the farm to the table. At the end of the journey, the Atayal members led us to sing and dance, by which we shared joy with singing and connected with each other with dancing. Hopefully, this rotating circle of singing and dancing can be transformed into the friendliness toward the land and the continuation of culture through the endless vitality and warmth circulating between the environment and people.
Let children enjoy the fun and understand the source of food
Children in the cities rarely have opportunities to interact with farmers. Most of them learn about the food sources at school or through the media. What kind of healthy environment should we give to the next generation? The extension of nutrition education and continuous learning of professional knowledge is what we need to carry out now. So let us discover and enjoy the fun of eating in our lives!
Parents and children playing "Mask formed by Diet"
With the COVID-19 rage at the beginning of 2020, people were rushing to buy face masks everywhere. As students studying Nutrition and Health Science, we began to think about that in addition to using masks to provide external protection, how could people strengthen their immune system by healthy food? It would be great to use fresh ingredients and appropriate cooking to make delicious and healthy dishes, and at the same time to enjoy the fun of cooking. Through the USR program, we made many healthy cooking demonstration videos for the public in the hope of improving people's health and immunity through the message conveyed in the videos.
In recent years, food delivery becomes more and more popular. People get used to consuming processed foods or instant foods for their convenience and delicacy but not their nutrition. Therefore, we invite some dietitians and their children to record videos showing how to utilize the original forms of food and calculate calories in food, by which we summarized and shared a series of videos on "Parents and Children Play Nutrition Together" with the public for people to increase interaction between parents and children.
Take kids to do together
With the cooling down of the epidemic in recent days, we led the children from Xinyi Elementary School to cook together. Although it was the first time for many children to chop vegetables, cut fruits or fry eggs and they were not quite good at it, they worked very hard for the honor of their group. They also enjoyed the fun of hands-on cooking and demonstrated their thoughtfulness of cooking for others, which was very rewarding and let us become more aware of the importance of nutrition education.
Mission of the Students in the School of Nutrition and Health Sciences
In the training courses held in August, some senior nutrition specialties shared their inspiring and interesting experiences with us. Then we took part in the Seed Teacher Workshop, which provided us with rich and diversified classes in regards to how to shape the professional image of dietitians and focus on nutrition education, and enabled us to understand the value of being a nutritionist to promote nutrition knowledge to the public. We possess very good nutrition expertise and an enthusiastic heart. We hope to contribute our efforts to help children build up correct nutrition concepts. By sharing videos through social media and participating in this series of activities, we propagated correct concepts of nutrition hoping that children and parents can enjoy healthy and delicious food for their physical health and enjoyment. At the same time, we hope this knowledge of nutrition and health will take root in people’s lives, thereby influencing the next generation in a natural way.
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University characteristic Startup Stage Project
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Taipei City
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臺北醫學大學
759votes
Further reading
Measures for Leaving a Message to Enter the Draw for the Live Streaming of the Opening Ceremony
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Event Period
From 13:00 to 14:00 on December 12 (Saturday), 2020
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Event Measures
Log in to your personal Facebook or Google account to proceed with leaving a message; each account with a successful message of #2020usrexpo left before the end of the live streaming of the opening ceremony will have an opportunity to enter the draw, and each account is restricted to winning the prize once only.
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List of Winners
On December 14 (Monday), 2020, the list of winners will be announced on the event official website https://2020usrexpo.org/) Announcement of the list of winners
Event Prize Content
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1st Prize
“Huei Yeh” Power Extreme Massage Gun 1 winner
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2nd Prize
Nestle Dolce Gusto Genio 2 1 winner
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3rd Prize
KINYO Bluetooth 5.0 Wireless Speaker 2 winner
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4th Prize
7-11 Gift Voucher valued at NT$200 27 winner
Announcement of the list of winners
The various prizes are expected to be notified via email and also announced on the event official website on December 14 (Monday), please will the prize winners pay attention to the prize-winning information, and send back the relevant documents according to the notices & explanations; no separate notification will be issued.
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