The Hua Foundation is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, founded in fall of 2013, and launched in November 2013. It was founded by youth organizers Claudia Li (Chinese-born Canadian), Kevin Huang (Taiwanese-Canadian) and Bard Suen (Chinese-born Canadian) to build community engagement in

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

and

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

. The foundation evolved out of Li and Huang's shark conservation campaign, Shark Truth. It is a program of the Global Youth Education Network Society (genius), a federally registered

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

Programs

Reconnecting

In 2013, The foundation hosted a

wonton A wonton ( zh, t=, s=馄饨, p=húntun, j=wan4 tan4, first=t) is a type of Chinese dumpling commonly found across regional styles of Chinese cuisine. It is also spelled wantan or wuntun, a transliteration from Cantonese zh, j=wan4 tan1, ...

workshop, the first of a series of cooking classes called the "G-Ma Kitchen Table Series." The classes aim to reconnect Chinese youth with their

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and Dish (food), dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national ...

s and practices by decreasing the intergenerational knowledge gap.

The Choi Project

The Choi Project is the Hua Foundation's

food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...

and food literacy program. It aims to provide more local, pesticide, and hormone-free food products that can be used in traditional cuisine. The organization is partnered with various

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and Corporation, corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as o ...

area groups such as the Richmond Food Security Society, Vancouver Food Policy Council and urban growers.

Shark Truth

In 2009, Claudia Li founded Shark Truth, an organization aiming to protect sharks from extinction through reduction of

shark finning Shark finning is the act of removing fins from sharks and discarding the rest of the shark back into the ocean. This act is prohibited in many countries. The sharks are often still alive when discarded, but without their fins.Spiegel, J. (200 ...

, using

cross-cultural Cross-cultural may refer to: *cross-cultural studies, a comparative tendency in various fields of cultural analysis *cross-cultural communication, a field of study that looks at how people from differing culture, cultural backgrounds communicate * ...

messaging, such as its Happy Hearts Love Sharks wedding contest. In 2012, Shark Truth offered wedding couples who vowed to go "Fin Free" at their weddings a chance to win a trip to the Galapagos Islands. Shark Truth campaigns saved nearly 8,000 sharks by diverting over 80,000 bowls of shark fin from consumption. The issue of

shark-fin soup Shark's fin soup is a soup or stewed dish served in parts of China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The shark fins provide texture, while the taste comes from the other ingredients. It is commonly served at special occasions such as weddings and ba ...

caused controversy and divides in the Chinese and environmental communities. The move toward local bans in Canadian municipalities — and Shark Truth's role — was covered in the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'' and numerous national and international outlets.Shark Truth
In the News

References

External links

*
Shark Truth - Official Website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122060456/http://www.sharktruth.org/ , date=2012-01-22
Vancouver is Awesome - "What the heck is 'hua foundation'?"

Georgia Straight - Claudia Li: Growing a sustainable food system in diverse communities

Georgia Straight - Alden Habacon: Why is Green So White?
Organizations based in Vancouver Organizations established in 2013 Chinese Canadian organizations Chinese-Canadian culture in Vancouver