Moon Festival Around The World

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, Zhongqiu Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiujie (中秋節), is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese and Chinese descendantsaround the world.

Mooncake is a main dish in this festival and when family and friends gather together to enjoy a moon cake.

It is a legal holiday in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. The Moon Festival is also a widely celebrated festival in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and Indonesia.

Please note that in Hong Kong, the official holiday date is the day after the festival, thus in 2010, the official holiday for mooncake festival in Hong Kong is on Thursday, 23 September 2010.

Source: http://sgholiday.com/2010/08/moon-cake-festival-2010/

Eating Moon Cakes

As with every Chinese holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival has its own special food. People eat moon cakes at Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon cake is a kind of cookie with various  fillings and on the surface are printed different artistic patterns depicting the story of Chang Er flying to the moon.

People treated this kind of food as one of the sacrificial offerings to the moon in the old days. Today, it has become an indispensable food while appreciating the bright moon for every family. Moon cakes come in various flavors which change according to the region but common fillings are nuts, sugar, sesame, ham and egg yolk.

As the mooncake is round in shape, it symbolizes the reunion of a family, so it is easy to understand how the eating of moon cakes under the round moon can inspire the missing of distant relatives. Nowadays, people present the moon cakes to relatives and friends to demonstrate that they wish them a long and happy life.

Source: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/mid-autumn.htm

The new Plum Baby product is made from organic mango, banana and quinoa grain from South America. Many mums want to feed their babies organic and healthier food as a pure organic diet can be more beneficial during the first few months of life than at any other time. Babies have immature systems and need the very purest and safest foods.

Organic produce is one of the fastest growing food retail sectors in the country. Health scares such as BSE and foot-and-mouth, plus fears of GM crops/food and synthetic dyes and ingredients such as Sudan1 have led to considerable growth in the organic and the healthy food market as worried consumers seek out more healthy and natural products for both adults and children.

This has lead to Organic baby foods becoming increasingly popular. Once only available in health shops or via online, organic baby foods are becoming much more widely available and you can now find them in local conveneice shops. Sales of organic food now account for half of the entire baby food market. Organic baby foods are not necessarily an improvement on organic home cooking, but are more convenient. It is worth noting that descriptions on products — such as natural, traditional, or environmentally friendly — do not mean they are organic.

How do I know its Organic or Fairtrade?
The term organic is defined by law – all organic food production and processing is governed by a strict set of rules. Look for symbols such as the Fairtrade Mark
Most people dont have enough time to read the labels of all the different food products that they buy to check for organic or fairtrade ingredients. So look for the various symbols.

The use of such symbols is entirely optional and a product can still be organic or fairly traded even though it doesnt carry the symbol of a certifying body. That means if you want to be 100% satisfied that what you are eating or using is organic or fairtrade, always read the label or speak to the vendor.

Source: http://www.floweradvisor.com.sg/lifestyle/interests/organic_products/128/why_buy_organic_and_fairtrade_baby_food_/

See Also : Mooncake, moon cake, Mid autumn festival