Pink girl turnip cake, from the delicious cooperation! Symbiotic kitchen brings up new links among small farmers, restaurants and communities.

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Pink and tender "red girl radish cake", so suitable for the Spring Festival! The "symbiotic kitchen" composed of small farmers, restaurants and communities has created this pink turnip cake like spring, condensing a new model of cooperative economy.

This innovative idea comes from Xie Jiaoyou, the founder of the good Food Machine. He says that small-scale farmers grow special pink radishes, which are more suitable for processing than fresh food, but small-scale farmers are easily affected by weather, their output is unstable, and sales are under great pressure. but the quantity is too small and it is difficult to find processing opportunities, so he mediates with restaurants and communities, where food technicians design recipes and processes, and use restaurant breaks to allow community residents to make turnip cakes.

At present, there are two restaurants in the production venue. Hsieh explains that many people in the community leave the social workplace due to family factors, and the symbiotic kitchen can provide these people with flexible working hours, while the radish cakes are sold to cover wages, raw material fees and restaurant site fees. Such a production and processing chain is "small and well-equipped" and can increase income for farmers, restaurants and communities. "this is a radish cake rich in social welfare."

Pink tender and meaningful symbiotic radish cake (photo / Yang Yuyun) the amount of pink radish is small and it is difficult to find a processing factory, and the symbiotic kitchen helps small farmers open another window.

According to the data of the Council of Agriculture, the average arable land of domestic farmers is only about 0.72 hectares, and most of them are part-time farmers, the production cost is on the high side, and the production of small farmers is often faced with the challenges of unstable output and sales. The good food machine, which has been helping small farmers for years, hopes to break through the predicament, so it comes up with a symbiotic kitchen connected with "small producers, small restaurants and communities".

Xie explained that the concept of symbiotic kitchen originated from the pink radish "red girl" in the Me jujube natural garden, which is different from the white radish sold in the market, which is mostly fresh, but is suitable for processing, but because the production scale is small, it is difficult to find a suitable processing plant, or the price offered by the processor does not meet the cost.

"there must be a way to live on a small scale." In order to digest the pink radish, Xie Mianyou began to imagine the development of processed products, so the pink and tender red girl radish cake was born. He believes that small producers have higher experimental energy and flexibility than large producers. Therefore, we make use of the idle time of the restaurant kitchen to make the restaurant become a "symbiotic kitchen" for small farmers' processing bases, through the planning and training of food technicians and the participation of community manpower. Produce agro-processed products that can benefit farmers, communities and restaurants.

The red girl radish suitable for processing (photo courtesy of Liang Peiling) is made in the restaurant as the processing base, supervised by the food technician and ordered in advance.

According to the regulations, the processing of agricultural products and food must be carried out in a processing plant with a processing registration certificate. Can the restaurant become a food processing plant? Hsieh Hsieh-you explained that the whole plan has applied to the Taipei City Government for approval. Restaurant production of agro-processed products is the concept of the front and back of the restaurant, just like the delivery platforms UberEats and Foodpanda, where customers place orders to the restaurant to make dishes, and there will be no spot at the restaurant site. Consumers must book from the restaurant in advance, and the restaurant will take orders for production.

The development and order management of radish cake are handled by good food machines. after pre-order, consumers can choose which restaurant to pick up the goods, and the final sales proceeds will pay the restaurant site fees, the raw materials costs of agricultural products and the wages of community manpower. Xie Mianyou explained that there are certain hygiene standards in the processing of agricultural products. The formula and production process of radish cake are designed and planned by food technicians, and food technicians must be present every time they are made.

Since the production space is in the restaurant, the time must be during the rest time when the restaurant is not open. During the production process, every staff member should be fully armed (wearing hats, gloves, masks and aprons) and the environment must be cleaned before and after production. Hsieh Hsieh-you says that the restaurant provides venues and the "Food staff Manufacturing Institute," which is good at food machinery, provides professional food technicians, while the Social work Department of Soochow University is responsible for co-ordinating the flexible labor force of the community and carrying out personnel dispatch. All community manpower must also be educated and trained by food technicians before they can start work.