SEOUL-- November 25, 2021 -- The Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism (Director Ven.Won-Kyung) announced that it runs ‘Sustainable Korean Temple Food 2021,’ an online event designed to introduce the sustainable lifestyle practiced by the Korean temple food and encourage people to take an action.

Almost 2.5 billion tons of food is wasted annually around the world, which accounts for almost 1/3 of all food resources and people waste roughly 1 billion tons of food a year. The Corps takes this crisis seriously and has come up with several online programs, starting from the idea that not producing leftover food can greatly reduce food waste and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and responding to the climate crisis.

On the Corps’ Instagram, anyone can participate in the ‘Zero Waste Challenge’ event by uploading photos of an empty bowl or plate with certain hashtags and nominating three other people to join the event.

The Corps utilizes its official Youtube channel to provide various video content such as a casual talk show and temple food recipes. In the talk show, multinational monks talk about temple food and its longtime efforts toward sustainability, while the serial videos of Korean temple food cuisine suggest how to use local and seasonal ingredients that are 100% plant-based vegan in healthier ways and how to eliminate food waste to save the environment while cooking temple food.

The editor in chief of TASTE and author of Koreatown: A Cookbook, a New York Times best-seller, Matt Rodbard and the co-author and chef, Deuki Hong visit Hwaeomsa temple, a Korean ‘national treasure’, and Jinkwansa temple to experience the true essence of Korea temple food. The video footage capturing their special experience is on its official Youtube channel.

“Korean temple food has been a part of our life that is an environmentally-friendly diet with minimal impact on the environment,” said Ven. Won-Kyung, director of the Corps. “With our Sustainable Korean Temple Food 2021 programs, we hope that people can discover simple and easy ways to stop wasting foods in order to reduce carbon emissions and help preserve Earth.”