The future of good food in China | Matilda Ho

Translator: 潘 可儿 Reviewer: Shanshan Li

I was six when I had the first chance to learn what patience means.

六歲個陣我第一次知道人要有耐性

My grandmother gave me a magic box as a birthday present,

我嫲嫲畀咗我一個魔术盒作為生日禮物

which neither of us knew would become a gift for life.

但係我哋都唔知佢會成為我一生嘅恩赐

I became obsessed with magic,

我開始沉迷魔術

and at 20, I became an amateur dove magician.

20 歲，我成為一名業餘白鴿魔術師

This act of magic requires that I train my doves

呢種魔術表演需要我訓練我嘅白鴿

to sit and wait inside my clothing.

籬喺我件衫裏面等待

As a young magician, I was always in a rush to make them appear,

因為後生衝動 我成日都急於將白鴿放出嚟

but my teacher told me

但係我嘅老師話

the secret to the success of this magical act

魔術藝術成功嘅秘訣

is to make my doves appear only after they've waited patiently

就係等我嘅白鴿 喺燕尾服裏面夠曬耐性

in my tuxedo.

先放出嚟

It has to be a mindful kind of patience,

要做到咁需要極大嘅耐性

the kind that took me some years to master.

我用咗好多年先至做到

When life took me to Shanghai seven years ago,

當七年前我嚟到上海

the mindful patience I learned became almost impossible to practice.

我學識嘅極大耐心幾乎冇用

In China, where everyone and everything is in a hurry,

喺中國，任何人任何事都好急

you need to outperform over 1.3 billion other people

你想過好啲嘅生活

to build a better life.

就要比其他十三億人做得更好

You hack the system, bend the rules,

咁就會有人做黑客，違法規則

circumvent the boundaries.

遊走於法律嘅邊緣

It is the same when it comes to food ...

甚至食品行業都係咁

except that when it comes to food,

但唔同嘅係

impatience can have dire consequences.

冇耐性對食品嘅影響不堪設想

In the haste to grow more, sell more,

因為急於生產同銷售

4,000 years of agriculture in a country of rich natural resources

呢個國家四千年嚟嘅豐富農耕資源

is spoiled by the overuse of chemicals and pesticides.

都因濫用化肥、殺蟲劑被破壞

In 2016, the Chinese government revealed

2016 年，短短九個月間

half a million food safety violations in just nine months.

中國政府就頒佈咗 成百萬條食品安全條例

Alarmingly, one in every four diabetics in the world

值得擔憂嘅係

依家世界糖尿病人有四分之一係中國

now comes from China.

The stories around food

有關食品嘅事件

are scary and somewhat overwhelming,

駭人聽聞又發人深省

and I told myself it's time to bring a mindful patience into the impatience.

我覺得係時候要畀啲耐性

When I say mindful patience,

我講嘅「耐性」

I don't mean the ability to wait.

唔係指「等得起」

I mean knowing how to act while waiting.

而係指「等個時要做啲咩」

所以，喺等待中國可持續食品體系 真正建立個時

And so, while I wait for the day

when a sustainable food system becomes a reality in China,

I launched one of China's first online farmers market

我成立咗中國最早嘅其中一間

to bring local, organically grown produce to families.

提供本地有機食品嘅網上農貿商城

When we went live, 18 months ago,

但十八個月前，開始運行個陣

the food we could sell then was somewhat dismal.

我哋搵唔到可以賣嘅食品

We had no fruit and hardly any meat to sell,

因為我哋送去實驗室檢驗嘅食品

as none that was sent to the lab passed our zero tolerance test

冇一個可以通過殺蟲劑、化學品 抗生素、激素嘅零容忍測試

towards pesticides, chemicals, antibiotics and hormones.

所以我哋水果、肉類都唔賣得

I told our very anxious employees

我哋員工都好心急，我同佢哋講

that we would not give up until we've met every local farmer in China.

喺尋遍中國嘅每位農夫之前 我哋都唔會放棄

Today, we supply 240 types of produce

依家，五十七位本地農夫

from 57 local farmers.

同我哋供應兩百四十種產品

After almost one year of searching,

經過差唔多一年嘅尋找

we finally found chemical-free bananas

我哋卒之喺海南島村民嘅後院度

grown in the backyards of villagers on Hainan Island.

搵到咗冇施化肥嘅香蕉

And only two hours away from Shanghai,

喺距離上海兩粒鐘路程

on an island that even Google Maps does not have coordinates for,

一個穀歌地圖都冇顯示嘅島

we found a place where cows eat grass

我哋搵到咗一個

牛喺藍天之下自在食草、遊蕩嘅地方

and roam free under the blue sky.

We also work hard on logistics.

同時我哋都努力做好配送

We deliver our customers' orders in as fast as three hours

我哋用電動車

做到三小時內送貨

on electric vehicles,

and we use biodegradable, reusable boxes

我哋用可降解、可循環利用嘅快遞盒

to minimize our environmental footprint.

嚟儘量減小對環境嘅破壞

I have no doubt that our offerings will continue to grow,

我好肯定我哋嘅業務範圍會繼續擴張

but it will take time,

但需要假以時日

and I know a lot more people are needed to shape the future of good food.

我都知道優質食品嘅美好未來 需要好多人嘅共同努力

So last year, I founded China's first food tech accelerator and VC platform

舊年，我成立咗中國第一個 食品科技孵化器同風險資本平臺

to help start-ups to shape the future of good food

幫助創業者以佢哋希望嘅方式

the way they want,

去塑造優質食品嘅未來

be that through using edible insects as a more sustainable source of protein

比如將可食用昆蟲 作為一種更可持續嘅蛋白質來源

or using essential oils to keep food fresh for longer.

或者用香精油延長食品保鮮

So, you may still ask:

我諗你哋都仲係想問

Why are you trying to build a sustainable food system

點解我要喺一個放慢就等於犯罪嘅國家

by driving a patient movement

嘗試以極大嘅耐性

in a country where it's almost a crime to take it slow?

逐步建立一個可持續食品體系

Because, for me,

因為我覺得

the real secret to success is patience --

成功嘅真正秘訣就係耐性

a mindful kind of patience

嗰種需要喺等待時 知道準備要做咩嘅

that requires knowing how to act while waiting,

極大嘅耐性

the kind of patience I learned with my grandmother's magic box.

嗰種嫲嫲嘅魔術盒教識我嘅耐性

After all, we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors.

畢竟，地球唔係我哋從祖先手上傳承嘅

We borrow it from our children.

而係我哋從後代手中借嚟嘅

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）