French Twist on Vegetables for Tokyo Locavore
Aug 31st, 2010
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A small group of people wearing aprons focus intently on one woman stirring a mixture of flour and water. At first glance she appears to be speaking to the bowl in front of her as she gives instruction on making pasta by hand, but her devotees hang on every word and motion. These locavores in training are getting a dose of DIY: the art of French cooking with Japanese vegetables.
Delphine Cheng began offering these hands-on learning experiences earlier this year to not only showcase the tasty organic produce offered by her CSA – Le Panier de Piu – but to bring people together to share her joy of cooking. Perfect for the beginner or the experienced cook, the classes combine French techniques with Japanese vegetables to produce some tantalizing delights. (My mouth still waters at the memory of finely chopped shiso leaves in cream drizzled over steamed spaghetti squash.)
Perhaps most importantly Delphine also teaches students how to use what’s at hand and in season to advantage. The July class centered around zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes. The September classes will feature some of the summer vegetables again – eggplants, cucumbers, and tomatoes – as well as some of the early fall harvest – komatsuna and leeks. All the vegetables are organic and are sourced from the farm she partners with in Ibaraki-ken or other local growers. The remaining ingredients are organic whenever possible, which lets students know about organic grocers in Tokyo, too.
Watching Delphine trouble-shoot challenging moments in the kitchen was undoubtedly invaluable, too. Our initial pasta dough turned out a bit too wet for the machine. As she kneaded in additional flour Delphine commented with reassuring nonchalance “Of course, you could eat it…” her words fading into the dough in front of her. Feeling the final product and seeing the noodles smoothly emerge gave us a tactile as well as visual understanding of workable dough we won’t soon forget.
The shared adventure of cooking turned strangers into culinary friends when it came time for the group meal at the end. (Quite simply, one cannot slice eggplant together without forging some kind of bond.) Sipping a specially selected organic French wine as we savored new tastes of seasonal favorites our conversation turned on farming, travel, family traditions, and a few favorite recipes of our own. As we dried the last dish, snapped the last group photo, and put our aprons away, we left with satisfied appetites and a few new friends to boot.
Ready to don an apron and get cooking?
Visit Delphine’s website to learn how to get your hands on those scrumptious organic vegetables from Ibaraki. While there check out the class information and sign up for the Saturday, September 11th or Sunday, September 19th class. Remember, only eight participants per class so get busy!
Classes last about two to three hours and teach recipes for an appetizer, a main course, and dessert with a side or two thrown in for good measure. Class size is limited to eight ensuring everyone gets an opportunity to dice, slice, steam, and wash. Instruction is given in French, English, and Japanese with a bilingual recap including the recipes and tips in full emailed within a day.
Joan Lambert Bailey writes about her food, farming, and gardening adventures at Popcorn Homestead and Everyday Gardens. Check out her other nifty greenz posts, too!
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The British Council and eQualC Sustainability Communications Present..
SEPTEMBER GREEN LEADERS FORUM (GLF8): CSR & Sustainability Communications
Monday September 6, 2010 @ British Council from 7pm to 9pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
REGISTER: GLF RSVP FORM (http://equalc.com/en/events/japan/129-glf8-registration).
EVENT INFORMATION
- DATE/TIME Monday September 6, 2010 from 7pm to 9pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
- ADMISSION FREE! Includes wine, soft drinks and snacks
- LOCATION British Council, Iidabashi Station
- MAP http://www.britishcouncil.org/japan-about-us-tokyo-centre-contact-details.htm
- TOPICS CSR and Sustainability Communications, CSR and company strategies, Main actors and stakeholders, Evaluation and effectiveness, Actions to support CSR by companies, greenwashing, advertising, branding, Green Leaders, Social entrepreneurs, ecopreneurs
- RSVP Due to the growing popularity of this event, places will be limited to 100 attendees. We ask everyone to please register here: GLF RSVP FORM (http://equalc.com/en/events/japan/129-glf8-registration).
- ATTENDEES 100 Green Leaders! Leading thinkers and practitioners from business, NGOs and government, as well as entrepreneurs, media, students, and those with a general interest in the fields of environmentally friendly and socially responsible green business, products and services, cleantech, innovation, and social entrepreneurship
- NOTE Photos and/or video of this event may be uploaded to Facebook, YouTube or other websites live or post event. Please advise at the door if you wish to be excluded.
About the Green Leaders Forum @ British Council
The Green Leaders Forum @ British Council is a free monthly learning and networking event for leading thinkers and practitioners from business, NGOs and government, as well as entrepreneurs, media, students, and those with a general interest in the fields of sustainability, cleantech, the environment and society, energy and climate change, corporate social responsibility (CSR), socially responsible investment (SRI), and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).
Upcoming Green Leaders Forums
September Green Leaders Forum (GLF8): CSR & Sustainability Communication
- DATE/TIME: Monday September 6, 2010 from 7pm to 9pm @ British Council
- TOPICS: CSR, sustainability communications, Green Media, web2.eco, strategic sustainability versus greenwashing, green PR, advertising and branding, green marketing, ethical advertising
Past Green Leaders Forums
Previous Green Leaders Forums were amazing evenings, with over 100 sustainability focused business professionals, eco-minded students and green media representatives participating in these ground-breaking bilingual events! A great big thanks to all of our Green Leaders, the British Council and to the huge crowds that turned out on Monday evenings to push the boundaries of sustainability and green business!
See the eQualC Sustainability Communications website links below for full event reports including photos, videos and presentation files.
GLF5 EVENT REPORT: June Green Leaders Event Showcases E-Ideas Winners
http://equalc.com/en/events/japan/127-event-report-glf5-showcases-e-ideas-winnersGLF4 EVENT REPORT: GREEN MONEY & SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS
http://equalc.com/en/events/japan/119-event-report-glf4GLF3 EVENT REPORT: LOW-CARBON COMMUNITIES & EcoHABITATS
http://equalc.com/events/japan/115-glf3-event-report-photos-videoGLF2 EVENT REPORT: GREEN MEDIA & WEB2.eco
http://equalc.com/events/japan/107-glf2-event-report-photos-videoGLF1 EVENT REPORT: THE FUTURE OF FOOD
http://equalc.com/events/japan/111-event-report-glf1-the-future-of-foodAbout the British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. The British Council was established in the UK in 1934 and has been in Japan since 1953. It operates in over 100 countries worldwide and welcomes over 8.5 million visitors every year.
- British Council, 1-2 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-0825
- T +81 (0)3 3235 8031 / F +81 (0)3 3235 8040
- Iidabashi Station, 6 mins (Sobu, Yurakucho, Namboku, Tozai and Oedo lines)
About eQualC Sustainability Communications
eQualC Sustainability Communications is a Tokyo-based company specializing in corporate communications in the fields of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR), socially responsible investment (SRI), environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and investor relations (IR). Services include event management and promotion, public relations and marketing, consulting, translation, editing, proofreading, and training.
eQualC Sustainability Communications
1-10-4-505 Takada, Toshima, Tokyo 171-0033, Japan
http://www.equalc.com————————————————————————–
Please consider the environment before printing.
eQualC Events Calendar
Click here to see details of other upcoming Japan sustainability events or here for international sustainability events.
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More than 25 people gathered last Saturday evening with scissors, markers, crayons, duct tape, and string to map out Tokyo’s everyday green spaces – large and small – during the first Tokyo DIY Gardening workshop. Held at 3331 Arts Chiyoda, a brand new arts space in a former junior high school, the workshop attracted attendees from all across the city. After a short presentation by the organizers, Jared Braiterman and Chris Berthelsen, on the purpose of the workshop and a little gardening exercise to warm up, participants began filling in sidewalk gardens, roof gardens, community gardens, and farms.
Covering three or four tables, the map started with only a drawing of the Yamanote Line. Then someone drew the Chuo Line, and soon places like Inokashira Park, the Meiji Shrine, and Tachikawa appeared. Reaching for the blue plastic “string” one participant laid down the course of a canal greenway (complete with bike path) that runs from Inokashira Pond all the way to Shinjuku. Moments later the map began filling with parks, gardens, farms, trees, temples, shrines, and turning this Tokyo from white to green.
Berthelsen then asked the group to add places that were not so green. Convenience stores, Narita Airport (except for the farm located there), and Tokyo Tower sprang up. (In some cases, they “sprang up” quite literally as participants moved rapidly to working in 3-D. See photos.) He followed this query up by asking for places or ideas for places that participants wished were more green. Colored pencils created trees outside convenience stores and flower pots on sidewalks. Little notes with the seeds of great ideas stood on the map in various locations. One participant commented that with all this green space – existing and hoped for – maybe someday Tokyo would need a concrete park to remember what it felt like.
Two hours later with a completed map before them, (including even Disneyland) the group admired their work. This Tokyo defied the concrete jungle stereotype, and appeared before us full of green life. Standing on chairs or leaning far over the table to snap photos with cameras and cell phones, participants relished what they’d created together.
“Looking at this map it looks like a place I’d want to live,” said one attendee.
Berthelsen and Braiterman plan to digitize the map and share it on the Tokyo DIY Gardening website. They also hope to expand the bilingual aspects of the site (volunteers welcome!) in order to draw on an ever increasing pool of Tokyo residents to learn more about the green side of the city.
Want more information?
Check out Tokyo DIY Gardening’s website and blog to see what others are doing and discovering that’s green. A collaborative effort to showcase urban nature – from containers to balconies to the everyday to the majestic – Tokyo DIY Gardening offers inspirational photos and information on how to green your part of urban space. And you can offer up your own observations, too!
Joan Lambert Bailey writes about her adventures in food, farming, and gardening at Popcorn Homestead and Everyday Gardens. Check out her other greenz posts, too!
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Developing Next Generation Green Leaders at GLF7
Aug 18th, 2010
On the 1st Monday of every month, The British Council and eQualC Sustainability Communications present the Green Leaders Forum (GLF), a fantastic Green Business and networking event in Tokyo. The theme of the August forum (GLF7) was “Developing Next Generation Green Leaders”. Along this theme, five speakers gave presentations on their successes and what they’re currently doing in their specific fields.
This month’s speakers were Theo Anagnostopoulos from Greece, Co-Founder and General Manager of SciCo; Kenneth Wong from Singapore, Executive Committee member of the National Youth Achievement award in Singapore; Ghani Kunto from Indonesia, Co-Founder of YouthLab Indonesia and Director of the Komodo Dragon Foundation; and the keynote speaker was Patricia Bader-Johnston, Director of Communications at Ernst&Young and Director of Sustainability Practice Japan at Edelman. Although all of the presentations were insightful and inspiring, the keynote speaker, Patricia Bader-Johnston, was particularly impressive with her presentation on what is needed to be a leader in today’s environment.
First, she gave us a brief history of how societies and their economies have gone through several waves of change in history, always following the same cyclical pattern of five stages. First there is an eruption of a new concept, idea or technology, then there is a frenzy of activity around it, there’s a crash, followed by a synergy of people and ideas coming together more coherently around the new way of doing things that then develops and matures for a period of time before the cycle starts again.
As Patricia tells us, the world as a global village is in crisis and change is needed in how we relate and do business with our natural environment and its resources, and how we relate and do business with ourselves. Companies that do business without regard to the environment or social welfare are now finding it harder and harder to do business. More and more university graduates at the top of their fields are refusing to work for such companies, and these companies are finding it harder and harder to receive investment due to their environmental risk profiles – think of British Petroleum.
Apparently 74% of companies surveyed see it as an opportunity to use Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR) to drive their businesses. And not in a “greenwashing” fashion, but in a holistic, inside-out approach to genuinely develop and apply best practices to achieve long term success. Why? Because, according to Bader-Johnston, companies can no longer “make” a PR position and then thoroughly convince others of its “truth” because access to information is so great now. No matter what face a company puts on, true motives leak out and leak out quickly.
So what this all means is that an entire crust of the best business leaders in the world – who are of a certain vintage – have the money and the motivation to invest in CSR, but they need people of the next generation, the younger generation, who have the new skill sets needed and have the ability to innovate in CSR. These people are The Next Generation Green Leaders. The key skills they will need are the ability to learn, to communicate well, to be prepared for the unexpected, to manage crisis, and, most of all, to be able to find balance, especially balance in the environment, and balance between their work and the other areas of their life’s mission. This could be you. We hope it is, because your village needs you.
For more information about this event, please see the eQualC website at http://www.equalc.com/en/events
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August 5 Green Drinks Tokyo: The Wonder of Workshops
Aug 3rd, 2010
The four rules of Open Space Technology. Some Rights Reserved. Chris Corrigan
Green Drinks is a monthly meeting of green key persons held in over 500 cities around the globe. Green Drinks Tokyo (gdT) is organized by greenz.jp and usually held on the second Thursday of each month. This month’s gdT will be on the first Thursday, however, due to the approaching Bon holidays. The theme for August: Designing Workshops.
Hi everyone, creative director YOSH here!
Recently I’ve be hearing a lot about ‘workshops’.
This summer, greenz.jp will be holding a ‘workshop festival’ in Chiba titled ‘green Workshop fes 2010 in Boso! – creating a new style of living –‘
But… what exactly is a ‘workshop’?
The ‘Marshmallow Challenge’ introduced above is an example of a design workshop where each team is given 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. While the task given is to make the tallest marshmallow-supporting structure possible, the real essence of the workshop is to learn about collaboration, innovation, and creativity. I attended the TEDxTokyo yz in June, and learnt firsthand what it takes to make a successful structure.
Other memorable workshops I’ve taken part in are the ‘World Café’ workshop by Adam Kahane, one of the key people credited with abolishing the Apartheid regime in South Africa, and a workshop held by the Japan Treehouse Network on making furniture from driftwood.
In running my NGO ‘Renewable Hydrogen Network’ too, I often use workshop type activities to get good ideas mapped out and in the right direction.
While there are various types of workshops, the main idea is learning through experience – that an idea or lesson sticks better when you’ve experienced it, rather than just been told it. After attending great workshops I often realize that I, along with my organization go through great changes. I feel like I’ve met a new me, and can see the positive side of what others say and do too.
The question is how to take this and apply it to creating a sustainable society. How to develop greenz from a tool for sharing information to one for creating a community where everyone participates in working towards this goal.
‘Find out’ through greenz.jp, ‘connect’ through green drinks, and ‘learn by experience’ through green workshops!
Come and experience for yourself the power of learning through experience at this month’s gdT.
Shoichi Nakanishi, author of workshop handbook ‘Guzen wo Design Suru Gijutsu’ will draw on his vast experience facilitating workshops in business and NPO circles to introduce the basics of ‘workshops to develop creativity’.
Naho Iguchi, a core member of TEDxTokyo and experienced workshop facilitator will talk about creating TEDx events, and Naoki Sakata, developer of crowd sourcing web service Blabo! will fill us in on facilitating ‘online brainstorming’.
Event details
[Date]
August 5, 2010 (Thursday) 19:00 – 22:30
[Theme]
Designing Workshops
[Program]
19:00 Doors open
19:25 Opening remarks and Introduction to greenz.jp and gdT
19:30 Presentation by speakers
20:15 Toast followed by free time for networking
21:00 Open mic
22:00 Closing remarks
22:30 Event ends
Entry fee: 2,000 yen, with one drink included. Additional food and drinks can also be purchased.
** Promotional Discount**
ReTweet this article and get in for 1,500 yen! Just let one of our staff members know at the door.
While bookings aren’t essential, space is limited so please book in advance to avoid disappointment.
Venue:
ARK HiLLS Café 1-3-40 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Access:
4 min walk from Tameike-Sanno Station (Exit 13), 2 min walk from Roppongi 1-Chome Station (Exit 3)
[Guests]
Shoichi Nakanishi
Representative of Plus Circulation Japan Ltd.
Lecturer at Rikkyo University graduate school of cross-cultural communication, and Fukuoka University Extension Center. A sociology graduate of Waseda University, Nakanishi has worked as an advertising / communication planner, and consultant for such things as company names, product development, and communication development. He currently designs and facilitates workshops geared towards product development and vision building. Nakanishi is a member of the Japan Environmental Education Forum, the Japan Society for Educational Technology (JSET), and the Japan Council on the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD-J).
Naho Iguchi
A researcher of global leadership, Japanese leadership mentality and spirituality, Iguchi also works on developing institutional transformation, multicultural communication skills, diversity, team building, and other practical communication skills. She also studies institutional development consulting using graphic facilitation at Grove Consultants International. Since February 2009 she has been running her own business ‘Communication Process Design’.
Naoki Sakata
After working in marketing at a foreign firm, he started a venture business to find a ‘button to change the world’. Sakata is a producer for marketing crowd sourcing platform ‘Blabo!’.
About Green Drinks
Green Drinks is a self-organizing international network enabling people who work in the environmental field to mingle, exchange information, and inspire ideas. Green Drinks Tokyo is organized by greenz.jp and is usually held on the second Thursday of every month. See below for reports from past Green Drinks.
Green Drinks Tokyo August `09: Green Media
Green Drinks Tokyo September `09: Green Politics
Green Drinks Tokyo October `09: Agriculture 2.0 – The Green Finger Revolution
Green Drinks Tokyo November `09: Art & Redeveloping Downtown with Melanie Mullen
Green Drinks Tokyo December `09: Nomadic Workers
Green Drinks Tokyo December `09 Special: Green Xmas Party
Green Drinks Tokyo March `10: The Future of Small Businesses
This article was translated by Ken from the original Japanese post by greenz.jp.
