【Kale and Orange Cupcakes】Growing Vision: Bridging Farm Tech with Community
【Kale and Orange Cupcakes】Raymond Mak | Growing Vision: Bridging Farm Tech with Community
Editor’s Note: The vibrancy of the Kennedy Town promenade is hard to capture in words. Young people on skateboards whizzed past elderly on bikes; parents enjoyed the sun while kids built forts out of plastic pallets. K-Farm’s herb garden thrived in this atmosphere - but it wasn’t something to be taken for granted. We learned that K-Farm breached the bureaucratic boundary that separated two sections of land run by different government departments. It had intentionally, literally, torn down a wall to make its vegetables accessible to people enjoying the open space. It was in this context that we spoke with Raymond, who himself challenges the boundaries of farming, technology, and community, and asks through his work of Farmacy and K-Farm: What else is possible?
During the time of our interview, the herb garden was already up and running, but the most exciting part of the endeavour - the hydroponic garden (the metal structure in the background) - was just reaching its final stages of construction, due to open in March 2021. The drainage area around the middle of the photo marks the bureaucratic boundary between the two government departments.
A bit about yourself:
I am Raymond, founder of Farmacy, and subsequently - along with the NGO Rough and Avoid Obvious Architects - K-Farm, Hong Kong’s first non-profit, urban farm incorporating hydroponics, aquaponics, and organic farming systems. I believe an agricultural revolution is coming. Apart from traditional rural farming, there will also be a rise in farming in cities.
Note: Farmacy is the first agri-tech company in China and Asia that builds decentralised, smart, mobile in-store farms in highly urbanised cities.
1 / What makes a good meal?
A few years ago, I went to Jiangxi Province for volunteer work. My deepest impression there was of a meal at a local farmer’s home. With scarce resources, meals were meat-free by default; only vegetables were available. Cooked only in oil, without any fancy spices or creative cooking technique, they were nonetheless the most delicious I’d ever eaten.
I asked the farmer, “Why are your vegetables so good?” He replied, “I only used the vegetables outside my house!” A good meal could be so simple.
My biggest reflection was that food quality in Hong Kong - a city rich in resources and choices of imported food - still paled in comparison with this farmer’s vegetables. Meanwhile, imported food also produces tons of carbon emissions through its ‘food miles’. We may have a lot of resources, but we still can’t get the best (food) quality. I thought we could do better.
So when I had the chance to dip into tech innovation, I started reflecting on what I cared about and how I could contribute to Hong Kong. This meal launched me and my team on our journey to create Farmacy.
2 / Tell us about Farmacy and K-Farm.
The vision behind K-Farm is to show Hong Kongers three of the most commonly known modes of agricultural production: hydroponics, organic farming, and aquaponics. We will have a series of education events that focus on community culture, and draw people closer to the food we eat. This way, we can work towards building sustainable and caring communities.
K-Farm and Farmacy enhance each other. We run K-Farm as a non-profit. What we are planning and realising with K-Farm reap the lessons of what we’ve learnt through Farmacy. But in turn, we also find ourselves learning all sorts of unexpected things in the process. It’s a kind of give and take.
3 / What have you noticed about the way Hong Kongers eat or perceive plant-based foods since you started Farmacy?
When I first started Farmacy, everything I planted died. I never thought I could be in farming. But even without a so-called “green lifestyle”, change comes with taking the first step.
Hong Kongers’ knowledge of plant-based foods is indeed quite low, but I can see that change is happening. Some people may be interested in urban farming, but never even had the chance to know about it. Through our work, they can learn about these things and become more environmentally aware. At the end of the day, what’s important is to first create the opportunity for urban dwellers to be exposed to the origins of our food.
4 / The year 2030 is an important target for global climate goals. What does this mean to you? What do you wish to see more of in this world?
First, I hope that Hong Kong can reach a reasonable level of local production. Singapore is now working towards the goal of “30 by 30”, aiming to raise the local produce level from meeting 10% of the city’s nutritional needs to 30% by 2030. Hong Kong’s is at 1.7%.
I hope our work can generate some noise for the government to take a good look at Hong Kong’s food supply. We may not be able to catch the 2030 target, but at least we need to be on the right track.
Second, I hope that by 2030, K-Farm’s work will extend to all 18 districts, and ¼ of schools and their youth have a chance to play an active role in accumulating change on the community level. This way we can inspire the public to be more aware of our carbon footprint, and make behavioural changes that serve our home and planet.
The hydroponic garden (the metal structure in the background) is reaching its final stages of construction, due to open in March 2021.
5 / Share your meatless recipe.
【Kale and Orange Cupcakes】
Editor’s Note: Raymond shared a few recipes with us that use vegetables that Farmacy is growing. We picked one that reminded us of him - innovative, approachable, and ready for a challenge while having some fun.
Serves: 6
Total cooking time: 45-60 mins
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
100g raw kale leaves, woody stalks discarded
150g vegan butter
150g sugar (we used organic cane sugar)
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 orange, zest and juice
200 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
Icing:
75g vegan butter
250g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp orange juice
Steps:
Preheat oven to 170°C. Line or grease a muffin tray.
Tear the kale leaves into bite-sized pieces and boil or steam for a few minutes until tender. Refresh in cold water, drain and puree (it will still be a bit stringy). Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then the kale, vanilla, zest, and orange juice. Save enough zest and juice to make the icing later.
Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and stir to gently combine.
Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes. Remove to cool completely.
For the icing: In a large bowl, whisk the butter until fluffy. Sift in the icing sugar and beat until thick. Add enough orange juice to make it a frosting consistency.
Once the cupcakes have cooled, spread the icing across them and sprinkle with zest.
Recipe source: https://www.lovefood.com/recipes/58256/kale-and-orange-cupcakes-with-orange-icing-recipe (adapted)