Chinese New Year: Telling Liverpool’s Food Stories Through Culture and Community

As Liverpool welcomes the start of the Chinese New Year, we are reminded that food is never just what is on the plate. Instead, it is about who we are, where we come from and how we connect with one another. Across cultures, the New Year is a time for gathering, reflection and hope – and, at the heart of thet celebration, is always food.

At Feeding Liverpool, moments like Chinese New Year invite us to pause and think about what good food really means in our city, beyond just access to meals. The belief that food reflects people’s cultures, memories and identities sits at the heart of our Good Food; Our Food photo and story exhibition – a project that captures the lived food experiences of people across Liverpool and celebrates the role food plays in building belonging.

 

Good Food; Our Food – Sharing Liverpool’s Food Stories

Since launching the Good Food; Our Food exhibition in 2021, Feeding Liverpool has been listening to communities across the city and asking one simple question: ‘What does good food mean to you?’

The answers go far beyond nutrition. Through photography and storytelling gathered by local photographer Emma Case fron residents across a range of the city’s communities, the exhibition shows how food connects generations, preserves heritage, creates comfort in unfamiliar places and helps to open doors between cultures. It reminds us that good food is about dignity and being able to eat in ways that feel familiar, respectful and meaningful to who you are.

One contributor explains how food shapes both identity and connection:

I do mix the English culture with the Caribbean culture because there are things I like now, but it is so important to have your own food because it gives you a sense of belonging, a sense of who you are. Food is a massive part of people’s culture, probably the main part. People have clothing, or how they do things, how they marry and stuff like that, but food, any occassion is celebrated with food – from the cradle to the grave.

They go on to describe how food creates a bridge between people:

It gives you a sense of belonging but also something that you can share with people who haven’t experienced your culture. In this country, British food is made up of food from around the world. The main dish is the Vindaloo, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Caribbean – it has all become a part of British culture. The mixture of food and culture – it just makes life so much better and it opens the door to so many things. With food, you could say to somebody: ‘Is this what you eat in your country?’ and then they might start telling you why they eat it and at what occasion. It is all about bringing people together.

These reflects capture why the Good Food; Our Food exhibition exists – to amplify voices, honour lived experience and show that Liverpool’s food system is made stronger when it reflects the people who live here.

 

Chinese New Year: Food as Memory, Meaning and Togetherness

Chinese New Year is a powerful reminder of how food carries stories, values and care across generations. The dishes we eat, the way we prepare them and the people we share them with all hold meaning.

One contributor to the exhibition describes the symbolism behind a traditional New Year meal:

We have the whole fish with the head and the tail to symbolise family togetherness and unity. You eat the fish by starting from the head to the tail and not flipping it; doing so is really bad luck as it can cause a fisherman’s boat to capsize.

Another reflects on how food preperation itself becomes a cultural celebration:

For me, the dumpling is most important as, growing up, it was very much a family activity. Everyone gets involved. My grandparents, my parents, me, my children, aunties, uncles – everyone is together during Chinese New Year time, and that reminds me of the traditions.

These moments show that good food is about much more than eating; it is about learning from elders, passing knowledge to children and creating spaces where people feel connected and seen. Chinese New Year is not just a date in the calendar, therefore – it is a living example of how food sustains culture and community, and serves as an opportunity to honour the flavours and traditions that enrich our city and contribute to its rich tapestry.

 

Community, Culture and Food in Liverpool 

Liverpool is home to Europe’s oldest Chinese community and organisations such as Chinese Wellbeing that help to ensure that people remain connected to culture, care and one another – with food often at the centre of that work.

Chinese Wellbeing supports individuals and families across the city through services that recognise how closely wellbeing is tied to everyday life. Alongside advice, health and social support, they create spaces where people can come together around food – whether through shared meals, culturally-familiar activities, community cooking or opportunities for people to maintain traditions that might otherwise be lost through isolation or change. For many, preparing and sharing food becomes a way to build confidence, strengthen relationships and feel at home in the city.

Their approach shows how food can be both practical and emotional at the same time; offering nourishment, reducing loneliness, supporting independence and helping people hold on to what feels familiar in a new environment.

Observing work like this helps shape how food is understood across Liverpool – not just as something people need, but as something people use to connect, care for each other and express who they are. It reflects a wider truth seen across the city; when communities are supported to share food in ways that feel meaningful, wellbeing grows alongside it.

 

Why Cultural Food Matters

Food carries us through life’s moments – celebration, comfort, change and remembrance.

One Good Food; Our Food exhibition contributor shares how cooking connects them to home and family:

I love cooking, It makes me feel good because it reminds me of who I am and where I come from. Whenever I miss home, I cook a certain dish and I feel like I am there. That is what it is about and I want the same for my daughter. It will always remind her of who she is and where she came from. It reminds her of her roots.

This sense of grounding, pride and continuity is what Feeding Liverpool works to protect, believing that good food should be accessible, dignified and culturally meaningful. Everyone deserves food that nourishes both body and identity, tells their story and helps them feel they belong.

 

Host The Exhibition

Chinese New Year invites us to celebrate Liverpool’s diversity and reflect on the role food plays in shaping our communities.

Through the Good Food; Our Food exhibition, Feeding Liverpool continues to create spaces where people’s voices are heard, stories are valued and food is recognised as a powerful connector between culture, wellbeing and justice.

Feeding Liverpool are always looking for new places to take the Good Food; Our Food exhibition across Liverpool and beyond. If you are part of a community group, school, workplace, venue or organisation and would like to host the exhibition at your event or space, we would love to hear from you.

By hosting the exhibition, you are helping to open up conversations about culture, dignity and access to good food – giving more people the chance to see their expeiences reflected in Liverpool’s food story.

 

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