The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has designated World Food Day each year on 16 October since 1981. The 2014 World Food Day theme - Family Farming: “Feeding the world, caring for the earth” - aims at raising the profile of family farming and smallholder farmers with a view to focusing world attention on the significant role of family farming in achieving sustainable development in rural areas, improving livelihoods, providing food safety and nutrition, managing natural resources, and protecting the environment. According to the report launched by the FAO in September 2013, wastage of cereals, fruits and vegetable in Asia was a significant problem, with major impacts on carbon emissions, water and land use. To tackle the problem and save the global resources, FAO is suggesting consumers not only reducing food wastage but also donating surplus food to the needy, or recycle food waste into animal feed or compost.

Organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Limited, and co-organized by the Environment Bureau, the Eco Expo Asia 2014 will be taken place at the AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) from 29 October till 1 November. The fair is an international trading platform showcases the latest innovations in environmental protection industries from around the world. Areas of specialty covered at the fair include air and water quality, eco-friendly product, energy efficiency and energy, green building as well as waste management and recycling. It is a good opportunity for environmental professionals from commercial, governmental and non-governmental spheres to exchange experience and make quality business contacts. The public can join the Green Mart that offering a wide array of eco-friendly products, the Public Day Forum and the Green Workshop on 1 November. It helps encourage the public to learn more about the latest green initiatives in Hong Kong and apply green tips in their daily life. Admission is free.

There is much food waste generated daily by people, like eggshell, fruit peel or leftovers. Food waste is perishable. It decays and generates odor when throwing into rubbish bin. In fact, food waste can be recycled into enzyme cleaner, a kind of natural cleaner by doing a little work.

Material needed: 2-liter plastic bottle 300 grams of citrus scraps 100 grams of brown sugar 1 liter of tap water

Step 1:
Fill the plastic bottle with water and then add brown sugar and stirring.

Step 2:
Chop up citrus scraps and then put it into the bottle. Make sure the chopped citrus scraps are soaking through the water to facilitate the fermentation process. The smaller you chop up the citrus scraps, the easier the fermentation is. You can also choose to add other food waste, like the leftovers and eggshell, but excluding any food waste containing oil, otherwise, the fermentation could not be done.

Step 3:
Mark the production date on the bottle. Open the cap of the bottle every day in the first month to release the gas generated from the fermentation process and avoid breaking of the bottle. The liquid inside the bottle will become darker after one week, showing the fermentation in progress. It takes 3 months to achieve the best result. Whenever you need to clean your house, simply add 100 ml enzyme into water as a natural cleaner.