The delicious food we enjoy does not come easy. As a way to raise public awareness about food sustainability, the National Taiwan Museum is encouraging the public to look at the food they have for the New Year’s reunion dinner and explore the ecology, industrial development, history, and culinary culture behind it. In Taiwan, the Lunar New Year’s reunion dinner is usually the most lavish of the year, typically with many types of seafood involved. However, several scientific papers have revealed the depletion of fishery resources, and that much of the seafood on the market comes from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which often involves the exploitation of migrant fishermen.

National Taiwan Museum’s Sustainable New Year’s Table initiative started in 2016. It brings together the author team of Seafood Guide Taiwan led by Dr. Kwang-Tsao Shao of Academia Sinica, advocates from NGOs, and representatives from industry and public sectors who are working to reinvent food education, urging the public to be responsible consumers and support eco-friendly agricultural and fishery products to ensure the sustainability of the environment and the New Year’s culture.