Care-fully Plate-up Exhibition

About the project

《用心摆盘》（Care-fully Plate-up）摄影图展，源自英国研究与创新署生物技术与生物科学研究理事会全球挑战研究基金（UKRI BBSRC GCRF）资助的跨学科研究项目。 该项目由利兹大学的宫芸芸教授领导， 旨在探讨中国儿童营养不良的干预措施、驱动因素和挑战。

20多年前，《中国小皇帝的饮食》一书揭示了儿童的偏好和需求如何塑造了当代中国家庭的饮食实践。如今，在“健康中国2030”倡议的背景下，健康被提升为国家重点事项。这场展览基于全球合作，探索父母如何应对为孩子提供营养餐的复杂性。

摄影图展的核心是：“好食物”意味着什么？通过2022年和2023年从浙江和山西两省父母那里收集的视觉饮食日记，这些图片展示了父母如何定义、准备和呈现健康的儿童饮食，讲述了照顾与文化的故事：父母如何在传统、现代期望和可用资源之间协商，制作出能体现爱、用心照顾和社会规范的烹饪。

展览还提出以下核心问题：文化价值观如何塑造“好食物”这个概念？父母，尤其是母亲，如何应对在为孩子提供“好”且“健康”食物的各种矛盾？

Care-fully Plate-up is a photography exhibition emerging from a UKRI BBSRC-funded interdisciplinary research project titled ‘Addressing Micronutrient Deficiencies Associated with the Double Burden of Childhood Malnutrition’, led by Professor Yun Yun Gong at the University of Leeds, which addresses the interventions, drivers, and challenges of childhood malnutrition in China.

More than 20 years ago, the book Feeding China’s Little Emperors (Jing, 2000) revealed how children’s preferences and demands shaped family food practices in contemporary China. Today, in light of China’s ‘Healthy China 2030’ initiative, which emphasizes health as a national priority, this exhibition builds on a global collaboration to explore how parents navigate the complexities of providing nutritious meals for their children.

At its heart, the exhibition asks: What does ‘good food’ mean? Through visual food diaries collected from parents in Zhejiang and Shanxi provinces in 2022 and 2023, the photographs illustrate how parents define, prepare, and present healthy meals for their children. These images tell stories of care and culture - how parents navigate tradition, modern expectations, and available resources in sourcing and creating meals that reflect love, care, and societal norms.

The exhibition also delves into questions such as: How do cultural values shape ideas of ‘good food’? And how do parents, particularly mothers, navigate the tensions of providing “good” and “healthy” food for their children?