An informal network I helped start had been part of Singapore’s food sustainability scene for some time when government agencies and schools began reaching out. They were keen to learn from practitioners, but needed to work with a company that could design and deliver customised programmes.
Food Citizen emerged as a space for practitioners from different walks of life to share their knowledge, skills, and stories. It is shaped by individuals who show up as co-creators and collaborators.
For some, it became a pathway towards livelihood rooted in their interests and experience.
In the beginning, we asked:
“What do we know that is worth sharing?”
“How might we cultivate curiosity and create experiences that help people see food, nature, community, and health differently?"
“How do we guide people with different levels of experience and skill?”
Increasingly, we ask:
“How do people become practitioners, stewards, and leaders in their own right?”
“How do people weave new choices and actions into everyday life?”
We have found that people often begin with curiosity and a desire to care. What sustains them is practice, community, and the joy of continuing to show up.
Here are a few stories of becoming from our recent work.
Cultivate a new practice: Urban Regen Practice Circle
Urban Regen is a 12-week program for individuals ready to weave food sustainability and urban regeneration practices into everyday life. The founding cohort spent the first four weeks learning to identify unfamiliar edible and medicinal plants, having them in food and drinks, and making compost.
The program is now in the self-directed practice phase. Participants explore what they felt called to move towards, with the support of the cohort.
One rediscovered the joys of making eco-enzymes for gardening and vermicomposting. She began experimenting and shared moments of joy and wonder with her cohort. Another added kitchen scraps, unfamiliar edible plants, and fallen leaves to a patch of hard clay soil, and observed how the patch changes over time.
Learning to identify unfamiliar edible and medicinal plants
Collective experience: Shared Table
Shared Table is a series of intimate evenings centred around food and the people shaping how we eat. Each session, we invite someone with a story to share.
Session 1 began with an invitation for the chefs of Bricolage to share their story, and express it through food.
The meal reflected years of practice, experimentation, and creativity. It featured forty plants, including surplus sourced from partner farms in Malaysia. Through techniques such as fermentation, preservation, roasting, and ageing, the chefs showed how care and creativity can reveal abundance where others see waste.
We prepared conversation prompts, but barely needed them. Guests naturally turned to one another and exchanged stories.
Guests at Shared Table 01
Personal practice: Cook with Joy
Deepa did not grow up thinking she would teach others to cook.
She began preparing meals for her family only after she got married – and unexpectedly discovered joy along the way. For her, cooking is both a practice and a way of caring for others.
At Cook with Joy, Deepa shares her approach to preparing nourishing food from scratch, rooted in her family’s traditions. Her workshops are for anyone curious to learn and experience plant-based South Indian cooking in ways that are joyful and nourishing.
Deepa sharing how she makes different courses at a communal kitchen
Relationship with place: Urban Nature Stewardship
Wonder changes the quality of our attention. Through stewardship sessions, we invite small groups of individuals to explore and care for our urban green spaces.
Adding kitchen scraps to a community compost
Inward Reflection: A Mindful Pause
The June solstice is a moment when the sun appears to pause in its movement. It reaches its most northerly point before slowly shifting southward.
On Sunday, 21 June, we invite you to take a mindful pause. Step outside if possible, or find a quiet space indoors.
Find a comfortable place to stand or sit. If you are standing, notice your feet firmly supported by the ground. Allow your spine to lengthen gently upward.
Then ask yourself:
Where have I grown deeper roots?
What has flowered and fruited?
What is beginning to emerge?
What is ready to be released or composted?
If you have pen and paper, draw the image that comes to mind. If you are doing this with friends, you may also want to share what came up for you.
As we close 2025, Food Citizen does so with a deep sense of thankfulness. Now in our sixth year, our focus has evolved — from distilling Singapore’s food landscape for policy-makers and educators, to shaping workshops as a small team of co-creators, and to partnering with individuals bringing diverse environmental, sustainability, social, and creative perspectives into public spaces. What hasn’t changed: Our paid workshop content is first piloted in our homes and experimental spaces, giving...
Food Citizen's monthly curated newsletter foodcitizen.sg Tea Brewing Techniques with Garden Botanicals Last two days to register! A flavour explorer and maker, Geok Kuan uses edible plant parts like an artist uses colours. This weekend, we'll be joining her to harvest from a whimsical private garden and brew harvests using different techniques to draw out their flavours and aromas. This workshop is informal and cosy, inviting you to slow down, enjoy a sensory experience, and explore the gifts...
