Shanghai Soup is a project is based off the hugely successful Detroit Soup model and was founded with the aim of creating a fun and entertaining networking event which positively impacts the wider community through microfunding. The dinners are held on a bi-monthly basis at various locations in central Shanghai. The soup served at each event is sourced from local suppliers and restaurants, utilising food that would otherwise be thrown away due to overstocking or cosmetic damage. Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted (source: FAO). In China, Liu, J. et al. (2013) suggest that 26 million hectares of land are used to grow crops which end up wasted every year, ‘the equivalent to the total arable land of Mexico’. We feel such waste is unacceptable and hope to promote awareness and further details of what we as consumers can do to reduce our food waste at the events. Fund your Shanghai community project with support from your neighbours – anything from creating an urban garden, to funding a class field trip, to starting a new business. Attendees pay 50RMB for soup and vote on which project they think benefits the community the most. The winner goes home with all of the money raised at the door to carry out their project. At the dinner, Shanghai residents and supporters connect, share ideas and community resources.