BioThai began working in the 1990s with farming communities and various networks to gather and enhance knowledge about local foods and production conditions.
Our Food4Change campaign, known as Kinplianloke in Thai, was launched in 2008 following inspiration from the global Slow Food movement , having learned that to address problems with Thailand’s food system, we needed to build links between consumers and food producers.
The Food4Change campaign is aimed at mobilising consumers to push for structural change in Thailand’s food system towards a system where healthy food is available for all – not just for those with money to afford the best. We want to see a system where smallholder farmers rights are respected, and where small-scale food producers and local vendors can make a decent living, and where the environment is protected from contamination and destructive infrastructure development.
Can we join together to create a food system that responds to the needs of people in Thailand? What would that system…
Posted by BIOTHAI Foundation on Monday, July 2, 2018
Below is a timeline of some of the activities of our work with our networks over the last 10 years, starting with the most recent:
8 September 2018
Supermarket trends seminar – Through the steady advance of supermarkets and convenience store food retail, corporations are increasingly dominating the food scene around the world, and Thailand is no exception. This seminar draws on experience from Mexico, various parts of Africa and Asia to expose the roots of the current crisis in the global food sector
3 October 2018
Book launch and showcase event: Tree vegetables: Perennials for a long life. Perhaps the simplest, most direct way to join in the campaign is to expand your own knowledge about the ingredients that we put into our food. This beautifully illustrated book introduces you to “Tree vegetables”, or pak-yuen-ton, the ingredients often used in Thai cooking that come from perennial plants, including flowers, leaves, fruits, beans, gourds, seeds, nuts etc.
5 July 2018
The Dear Supermarkets (…thi Rak) Campaign launches its supermarket score card, measuring the performance of 7 major supermarkets in Thailand on various criteria including the welfare of workers, respect for women’s human rights, fair dealings with smallscale farmers, transparency and social responsibility
19-20 March 2018
Our campaign joined in the {Re} two-day forum (https://www.re-take.asia/) exploring waste and sustainability in the food industry in Asia, bringing together chefs, farmers, fishermen, scientists and entrepreneurs. Nourished with food from celebrated chefs from Thailand and around the world, this platform sent out a clear message to the hospitality sector that it is time to readjust, revolutionise, and re-orient the way the sector operates to ensure a sustainable future.
July 2016
The Dear Supermarkets (…thi Rak) Campaign was launched by Oxfam, Food4Change, and the Consumer Networks on the idea of strengthening consumers to participate in managing their own food system. To become proactive in shaping a food system that serves their needs rather than the needs of the food industry and commerce. When consumers stand up together, they have a powerful voice, and they can’t be easily manipulated by the advertising claims of food vendors. (http://dearsupermarkets.com/).
Chef Noi 2014-2016
Most of the people who respond actively to our campaign messaging are in their 40s and up. Convincing the young adult generation to join the conversation has proved a challenge. Through the Chef Noi project we started to work with kids in 3 Chiang Mai schools, both primary and secondary, adapting our materials and methods to set up a learning process for children that is fun and engaging. The project has led to a change in lunch menus in participating schools. We can share this curriculum with others who would like their schools to adopt it. Please get in touch. The team collaborated to produce a series of children’s tv programmes which were broadcast on Thai PBS and are still available here (http://program.thaipbs.or.th/Littlechef). You can visit their facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/เชฟน้อย-กินเปลี่ยนโลก-216072438603969/
Fairs and festivals where we have campaigned in last 10 years
Food4Change joins in several small events throughout the year to mobilise consumers in Thailand into action towards structural changes of the food system. At least once each year, you can also find us at some of the major festival events on the subject of food, where you can discuss with our team and networks, taste some complex, some simple, tasty fresh foods, and catch our exhibitions and information displays.
Annual Festival – Thai Way of Health 2014-2015
Together with our friends from 30-40 organisations at the Sukohpap Witi Thai festival, our exhibitions and booths highlighted the relationship of food production to public health. At IMPACT arena.
- 2014 on the theme of “Kinplianloke, Kinplianrot, Kinplianrang” (Eat to change the world, eat to change flavour, eat to change your figure).
- 2015 on the theme of “Nam prik tuay kao” roughly translated as (Chilli paste : a blast from the past)
Food4Change Festivals – 2012, 2013 and 2017
Together with our networks around the country we organised our own special festival at Suan Santhichaiprakarn, the Fort Park at Pra Athit Road, in the heart of Bangkok. With networks of farmers and food producers from 20 areas around Thailand, Thai PAN, Urban vegetable farmers, the network of green markets, the freedom seeds network, and several media groups, we could introduce city dwellers to diverse foods including herbs and other local ingredients that you rarely get to taste in the city.
- Theme: Lam-Aroy-Roy-Saep, 4-5 August 2012 (these words each translate as “Delicious” in the 4 main regional dialects of Thailand) (https://www.thaihealth.or.th/Content-fb)
- Theme: Priaw-Wan-Man-Khem, August 2013 (http://www.food4change.in.th/activities/news-in-activities/648-2-q-q.html) (these words each translate as “Sour-Sweet-Fatty-Salty”)
- Theme: Chef Noi, 2017
Annual Festival – National Herbs Festival 2007-2012
Our campaign helped to organise the Larn wattanatham (cultural space) at the centre of the National Herbs Festival (Mahakharm samun prai) organised by the Traditional Medics Network (Mor Puen Baan) attracting up to 700,000 people. At IMPACT arena.
- 2007, Theme : “1 tuay namprik 100 chanid samunprai” (1 bowl of chilli paste, 100 herbs)
- 2008, Theme : “Pakpuenbaan aharn kuloke” (Local vegetables, food to recover the planet)
- 2009, Theme : “Homklai tua-tin Homklin baan keud” (Aromas from faraway places, aromas from your birthplace)
- 2010, Theme : “Kindii, Kinlaklaay, Klairoke” (Eat well, Eat diverse foods, stay far from disease)
28-30 January 2011
Food Film Festival to discuss the food production system at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (link to Festival programme http://en.bacc.or.th/event/509.html). The films included a set of short films entitled Good Food produced by Media That Matters, including ‘Inch by Inch: Providence Youth Gardens for Change’ and ‘The Meatrix’, as well as mainstream films such as the ‘Flavor of Happiness’ and documentaries such as ‘Food Inc.’ Articles in Thai about the films and the seminar discussions were posted on the Food4Change Website http://www.food4change.in.th/2013-04-22-11-06-40-100119/2013-04-22-11-09-34/425-28.html and http://www.food4change.in.th/2013-04-22-11-06-40-100119/2013-04-22-11-09-34/426-29.html
2007-2008
Food4Change campaign was launched following inspiration from the global Slow Food movement (link to article1 – slow food campaign in Thailand).
Reduce single use plastic
At all our events and in our Growing Diversity café, we encourage people to avoid the use of single-use plastics, such as straws, plastic cups and plastic bags. We join in the calls for the elimination of single-use plastic in the Thai food system.
Our campaign is featured regularly in magazines, on tv and radio. Our Food4Change campaign has its own website (www.food4change.in.th) and Facebook pages (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004061738176) (both in Thai).
For more information in English please contact our team.