To commemorate the sale of over 5000 TABLE FOR TWO (TFT) meals, “Healthy Spice Curry” (440 yen) was added to the limited-edition menu from January 25 to February 5. Okayama University Co-op has been cooperating with TFT since April 2019 to help provide meals to children in developing countries.

TABLE FOR TWO is a non-profit organization that started in Japan and is expanding globally. It allows participants in developed countries and children in developing countries to share meals across time and space, with the aim of solving obesity and unhealthy eating habits in developed countries and hunger in developing countries. When you purchase a TFT-branded meal, 20 yen is donated towards providing school meals to children in participating schools across East Africa and Southeast Asia. Okayama University Co-op started selling TFT-branded meals on the 3rd floor of Peach Union in April 2019, and by October 2020 had sold over 5,000 meals, amounting to a donation of 142,643 yen. (Breakdown: 104,320 yen donated from the sale of 5,216 meals, along with 38,323 in donations collected from sales made on Homecoming Day (amounts correct as of October 30, 2020)).

SDGs Ambassador Student KITAKAZE Ami (2nd year, Faculty of Law) came up with the idea for the commemorative project in order for bring more attention to the TFT initiative while also celebrating the sale of over 5,000 TFT meals. Ms. Kitakaze fell in love with spice curry, which is made without using roux, after being introduced to it by international students. Realizing that the healthy curry met the TFT goal of “contributing to healthy eating habits in developing countries”, Ms. Kitakaze proposed adding spice curry to the TFT menu and was able to set up the commemorative project in cooperation with Okayama University Co-op. “Healthy Spice Curry” is prepared using spices instead of roux and has the pleasant aroma of cardamom. For the first week of the project (January 25-January 29), a butter chicken curry made with cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamon and cayenne pepper went on sale. In the second week (February 1-5), in addition to the butter chicken curry (20 meals), “super-spicy curry” (10 meals), which has black pepper added for mouthwatering spiciness, was added to the menu.

Both curries were prepared according to TFT guidelines, which state that meals should not be more than 730 calories and that they should contain a lot of vegetables.
Ms. Kitakaze, who proposed the project, reflected that, “The sale of over 5000 TFT meals and the realization of this project were made possible through the cooperation of the University Co-op, faculty supervisors, the university’s public relations team, seniors who built a solid foundation with previous TFT initiatives, and everyone who has purchased a TFT meal. I hope that everyone will continue to support TFT by buying TFT-branded meals”.

Okayama University is consistently working towards achieving the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) set out by the UN. The implementation of the TFT menu is in line with the following SDGs: 1. NO POVERTY, 2. ZERO HUNGER, 3. GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, 4. QUALITY EDUCATION, 10. REDUCED INEQUALITIES, 15. LIFE ON LAND and 17. PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS.