Doing good over food and drinks

At first glance, Food #03, nestled among the mess of shophouses in various shapes and sizes and scents and wares in Little India, might just be a cafe with a bad choice of location. And instead of the usual air-conditioned comfort, idyllic ceiling fans and naked light bulbs adorn the high ceilings.

But wide-open doors and windows with intricate, pretty patterns keep the cozy cafe cool at all times. And take a closer look at the menu of the eco-friendly cafe, printed on recycled paper, you will find organic and fair-trade drinks.

The ceiling-high blackboard – usually filled with descriptions of food and drinks offered, at other cafes – is instead cluttered with posters for all kinds of social causes such as making poverty history and saving sharks. And in place of a shelf selling in-house merchandise, sit organic, fair-trade products and tee-shirts left by friends and strangers alike for a social cause.

The vegetarian cafe of a social enterprise is the brainchild of Woon Tien Wei, 34, an artist who got decided to name the cafe after his last art project, Food #02 in 2006. Most social enterprises usually have a predominant social cause but as a vegetarian and environmentalist himself, Tien Wei chooses an environmental cause.

By choosing to be a vegetarian cafe, Tien Wei believes he is making a statement. “I believe people can make conscious choices in what they eat and how they choose to live,” said Tien Wei.

But although Tien focuses on green issues though he would not refuse to help publicise or support social causes as and when he is asked to. He also practices green business ethics. Paper, bottles, glass bottles and all that can be re-used or recycled are dutifully done so. Leftover food are sent through the composting process.

Neither rent nor rants

And contrary to typical cafe owners who detest coffee campers, Tien Wei approached Green Drinks Singapore (GDS) when he found out they were looking for a place to gather for their monthly meetings over food and drinks. Since November 2007, the group, with an average turnout of 30 people, has had 14 meetings at the like-minded cafe. Food #03 has hosted and provided support in the form of publicity on both its website and by word of mouth, as well as physical space on the second level of the cafe at no costs.

“When people and ideas come together, it might translate into something beautiful,” said Tien Wei, who enjoys having groups with a social cause over at his cafe. Other groups such as Social Enterprise SG and Food not Bombs gather at Food #03 too.

Tien Wei often joins in the sessions, if not helping to organise them. As such, the cafe patrons are often regulars from these groups – all of them familiar with each other – making themselves at home. Food #03 has grown to become a “space for people to come together and grow ideas and develop them,” said Tien Wei.

Soup for the Soul

As a result, many projects are brought to life over food and drinks at Food #03. Besides yummy vegetarian food like popular soya patty Tempeh Burger ($11.90) – which has its own facebook account – and quirky but creative drinks like Vitagen Vodka ($4) which was dedicated to GDS, many activities and events for social causes are carried out at Food #03 too.

The Soup Kitchen Project, which serves food to the poor and hungry near the cafe, is one of them. Every Monday when the cafe is closed, a group of volunteers led by Food not Bombs, cooks and distributes vegetarian food to the residents of one-room flats around the area for free. The night before, volunteers push a trolley to nearby Tekka Market to collect vegetables that no longer look good but are still edible.

The cafe also collects plastic bags and takeaway containers, which will be re-used, when leftover food is given away to friends and the less fortunate around the area. Some are collaborations with the little art gallery Post Museum next door opened by Tien Wei’s wife, Jennifer, and which 30% of Food #03 goes to support. For example is the Really, Really Free Market held there is an event that promotes an alternative economy compared to the current economy where wasteful spending is pertinent. The event encourages people to bring down things that they do not want anymore and which are in good condition, as well as “shop” and picking up things that might be trash to others but treasure for you.

Other adhoc events and projects could be found on the events page of the website.

For more information, check out http://www.food03.sg/ and http://www.post-museum.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6178270813
Email: admin@food03.sg
Tel: 6396 7980
Address: 109 Rowell Road in Little India. Nearest MRT @Farrer Park (NE8).

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 20th, 2009 at 1:22 am and is filed under Feature Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.