Microfunding with Shanghai Soup and LadyFest

An event where we fund micro-grants for creative projects in Shanghai.

We serve soup, sustainably sourced from local businesses; each diner contributes 50RMB for their soup. 4 local projects have four minutes to share their idea and answer 4 questions from the diners. Attendees vote on which project they think benefits the community the most. The winner goes home with all of the money raised at the door to carry out their project. At the dinner, Shanghai residents and supporters connect, share ideas and community resources. This October event is held in conjunction with LadyFest; four women or women's groups pitching for support.

About Shanghai Soup

Shanghai Soup is a project is based off the hugely successful Detroit Soup model and was founded with the aim of creating a fun and entertaining networking event which positively impacts the wider community through micro-funding. The dinners are held at various locations in central Shanghai.

The soup served at each event is sourced from local suppliers and restaurants, utilising food that would otherwise be thrown away due to overstocking or cosmetic damage. Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted (source: FAO). In China, Liu, J. et al. (2013) suggest that 26 million hectares of land are used to grow crops which end up wasted every year, ‘the equivalent to the total arable land of Mexico’.

We feel such waste is unacceptable and hope to promote awareness and further details of what we as consumers can do to reduce our food waste at the events. Fund your Shanghai community project with support from your neighbours – anything from creating an urban garden, to funding a class field trip, to starting a new business.

How it works

• Attendees pay 50RMB for soup and vote on which project they think benefits the community the most.
• The winner goes home with all of the money raised at the door to carry out their project.
• At the dinner, Shanghai residents and supporters connect, share ideas and community resources.

For more details or to register for the activity visit this link. To submit your ideas for future collaboration please write to MATT or DAVID.