If you haven’t already heard, we‘re organising a very exciting, food-formation-packed event next month, and you need to be there for it. TL:DR (meaning “too long, didn’t read” – now you can keep up with the kids; you’re welcome): our first-ever Food’s Future Summit will take place on Saturday, 12 August 2017. It will be awesome, and you can still get your tickets here if you act fast.
When it comes to food trends and future-forward food, the word “organic” is bound to come up. In fact, it’s hard to go to any supermarket nowadays without catching sight of various “organic” labels slapped on a whole range of products. But is organic really better (or just more expensive) than orga-not?
via GIPHY
Who better to ask than Sonalie Figueiras – aka Hong Kong’s very own Queen of Green – who will be joining us at the Food’s Future Summit to tackle the topic. The Green Queen website was born out of Figueiras’ pursuit of a healthier life in Hong Kong, when she decided to compile her “little green book” of eco-friendly addresses into an online guide. Working with Tracy Turo, Figueiras has turned Green Queen into Hong Kong’s largest and most detailed healthy living resource. Figueiras and Turo are also co-founders of Ekowarehouse, an online global business-to-business trade platform for sourcing certified organic products.
Ahead of the Summit, we sought a quick audience with the Green Queen to find out what’s rocking her royal world when it comes to the future of food and what her guilty pleasures are.
What’s your favourite food?
In terms of a specific food, I could eat avocados every day. In terms of cuisines, I love yum cha, Lebanese food, French everything and Ottolenghi anything (from his recipes or from his London delis).
What worries you most about the future?
I am worried for the health and safety of our planet and humanity – we are not taking the environmental warning signs seriously enough. I am worried that inequality will continue to increase. I am worried about our future food supply (total global oligopoly). I am worried that we are becoming too superficial (social media) and too disconnected from real life (too much time on devices). We don‘t read/play/think/create/imagine enough anymore... Our brains need it.
What excites you most about the future?
There are so many incredible advancements for humanity still to come! I am excited to see all of it come to fruition, from AI (artificial intelligence), to electric cars, to smart cities – and so much more.
What’s one thing/habit/practice that everyone can and should adopt that will help to improve our food futures?
Learn to cook at home and make your own food whenever you can!
We have to ask: you run two websites dedicated to healthy living and eating, but what (if any) are your bad habits or guilty pleasures?
My husband‘s homemade pizza is my absolute number-one guilty food pleasure: it‘s the most delicious thing in the world! Other than that, anything and everything my mum makes: she is one of the best cooks in the world, no joke.
Catch the Green Queen at the Food’s Future Summit on Saturday, 12 August 2017.
