Food Citizen is a practice-led educational venture creating learning & practice opportunities in Singapore's urban spaces — through food, local context, care for nature and one another.
Learn
Discover the connections between food, nature, urban ecosystems, and us. Topics include composting, gardening, the food we eat, food waste - and the different choices we can make as Earth's regeneration stewards. We offer school assembly talks, classroom workshops and customised programs.
Experience
Small group sessions to deepen understanding through doing and being in real world settings. Engage in hands-on activities — from preparing food with local edibles or rescued food, to composting to gardening, and caring for urban nature.
Steward
Small group sessions facilitated by practitioners who make time to care for urban nature in selected neighbourhoods. Apply knowledge in composting and gardening as we explore what it means to be a Earth steward in a city as urbanised as Singapore. Build self-trust, interdependence, and responsibility for living systems around us.
Our customers are schools, companies, and groups curious about food, nature, and our role in caring for our shared Earth. Together with invited collaborators, Food Citizen designs programs and events that invite people to explore these questions and put the values they hold into practice.
Schools & educators
Schools looking to enrich curricular learning or applied learning with theory and hands-on experiences connecting soil biology, wildlife, food, and humans. Our content brings in global knowledge with local context, and highlights what people are doing at home and with our communities.
Workplace
Teams seeking team bonding sessions that weave with CSR, ESG, and community engagement. Our outdoor sessions build shared shared understanding through learning and doing. These can be located at the workplace premises, selected neighbourhoods, or partner locations.
Communities
Small groups who are starting community gardens or kitchens and want to identify local edibles, compost locally abundant organic material, nurture biodiverse gardens, or make meals with harvests or rescued food.
Part of a larger movement
Food Citizen is part of a growing movement in Singapore — people choosing to live better, eat better, and care more consciously for food, soil, one another, and the living world around us.
Our programmes and events create opportunities to be in urban nature, to explore our everyday neighbourhoods, and to examine the food we buy, cook, and eat. We hold space for like-minded strangers to meet, explore, learn, and steward life together. In a fast-moving city, these gatherings invite us to step away from the pace of daily life, to see familiar environments with fresh perspectives, and to practise making better choices.
Our programmes and events are held in a wide range of everyday spaces. From classrooms and offices, to markets and kitchens, to parks, gardens, and public libraries, we bring learning and connection into the places where everyday life happens.
Our work is carried out on a not-for-profit basis. We pay our invited freelancers fairly. Any surplus earnings are channelled towards supporting selected community-based projects where people are composting, growing food, and regenerating life in their neighbourhoods.
Pancakes as a way to explore alternative grains: Foo Peiying shared her journey that led to experimenting with wheat alternatives. Everyone got to taste pancakes made from different grains.
Karen Yip Taylor, founder of Summit Rescues, shared her journey in food rescue — showing how it can address food insecurity with dignity, care, and collaboration. The session was organised by Cuifen Pui, with support of Food Citizen and Jurong Library.
Amaani and Mindy reading at 'Top 10 weirdest critters of Singapore's rainforest', a book of poems penned by Amaani and illustrated by local illustrator, Clarice. Both are volunteers of Cicada Tree Eco Place. The storytime session was organised by Cuifen Pui, with support of Food Citizen and Jurong Library.
Voices from our participants
Living systems
"I loved that we were not only guided on the how-to’s, but we were also taught the science behind it which I found both intriguing and informative. The information that’s shared is what most content that I came across lacked, and (our trainer) Cuifen delivered it in such an engaging and digestible way, you’ll just get it. Her perspective on soil health would also help you understand climate issues, nutrition, and nature’s health much more holistically - you’ll see that everything is connected."
- Jocelyn Cai
Gardening Beyond NPK
"I have really enjoyed the evenings following both workshops (delivered by natural farmer Tang Hung Bun). I think being in the presence of such much enthusiasm and dedication during the workshop really rubs off, re-energising me in the process."
- David Taylor, lecturer
Connections between compost and soil
"The workshop is fun and informative! Chingwei (our trainer) shared lots of detailed information that we have never noticed even though we have been seeing it everyday. She is also full of knowledge about soil and compost. She patiently answered all our questions about it."
- HY, preschool teacher
Community Composting
"Oh wow, that was so inspiring! Thanks for sharing this story with us, it definitely helped us understand more on how community composting can really change the choices we make and slowly improve the climate crisis, rather than thinking that there is no hope in the future."
- SS, secondary school student
Home composting
"(The) workshop was an interactive and insightful way to learn about making compost. Beyond just instructions, Cuifen also shared about her personal experiences and journey, the science behind the compost-making process, and how it connects to broader ecosystem services. Learning about how top soil is commonly obtained commercially was also thought-provoking and motivated me to think deeper about how I approach growing plants.
It was my first time making compost, and I was concerned about how to go about it without a garden; Cuifen reassured us made it really accessible - from providing instructions on how to prepare food scraps before class, to providing additional compost material and containers for participants who did not have them readily available.
I feel more empowered to begin my own compost-making journey, and I hope to continue doing this as a way to reduce food waste and care for the environment in my own small way. I highly recommend this workshop for anyone who wants to start their compost making journey!"
- Lisa Koh
Alternative grains
"I enjoyed knowing more about other varieties of grains, as well as making the pancakes along with everyone else! :) It was very interesting and well-presented.
My biggest take-away? That other grains can be used to make pancakes that are delicious in different ways and how we can apply this knowledge in making other food. I was personally pleasantly surprised by how delicious I found the coconut pancake to be - it was delicious to eat on its own, without any added condiments."
- Clarisse
Meal event
"I loved that many of the ingredients were locally harvested, foraged or rescued. This is a wonderful way to connect people with what is locally available and to unique flavours, the experience helps to open one's mind to new possibilities, demonstrating that these types of ingredients are not lesser than, but pull their own weight. I would love to see more pairings like this, different iterations of local herbs, edible flowers, foraged food, medicinal plants, rescued food."
- Olivia Chong
Connect with us
Email us at hello@foodcitizen.sg or complete the form below to
✦ Explore tailored programmes
✦ Talk with us about your context and desired outcomes
✦ See how we can co-design learning & practice together