Mandy Lieu causes a stir wherever she goes, but her latest reinvention as a food and farming entrepreneur has captured attention from Hong Kong to London.

The Malaysian-American actress and entertainment personality built a huge following in Asia over 15 years with modelling campaigns, starring roles in movies and presenting TV shows. Little has been heard of Lieu for the past five years, until this week, when she resurfaced with a column in , announcing her new life as a mother in London and a new focus on sustainability in food and farming.

Lieu is hardly-known in the UK, but will soon make a name for herself as she opens a farm-to-table Deli at 296 Westbourne Grove in London’s Notting Hill, with plans taking shape to develop an ecologically-focused farming enterprise in the near future. In Asia, meanwhile, her re-emergence as a commentator has made headlines and thrilled followers of her former career.

Reinvention

No stranger to giving it all up and starting again, the past 15 years have taken Lieu from Malaysia to Hong Kong, to South Korea and Japan, forging an entirely new career each time. But the latest shift, her first venture in Europe and outside the world of entertainment, is a dramatic break with the past.

Lieu says it was motherhood, her “greatest and most rewarding challenge so far”, that prompted such a major change in her life. Lieu grew up in rural South East Asia, where farm-to-table cooking was not a lifestyle choice but simply the natural way of things. Her family grew their own fruits and vegetables and raised their own chickens. When her first child was born, Lieu realised that this was the childhood she wanted them to experience, and that is was possible in Europe and the UK.

Food is central to her relationship with her children and she hopes they will one day share the fond memories that she has of her own childhood, collecting eggs from the garden and picking fruit from trees. Lieu uses food not only to teach her children about nutrition but also about history and culture – she uses food to bridge the gap between East and West at home – encouraging her children to experience the best of both worlds.

Now, Lieu wishes to share her passion and knowledge with others through her business ventures, writing and commentary.

Food Systems

Lieu won’t claim to have all the answers, but she is clear that our relationship with food needs to change:

“For too long, we have viewed this ultra-globalised model of food supply as the only model. I have been fortunate to have had a career that has taken me all around the world and exposed me to many different food cultures. From Hong Kong to Tokyo, and now to London. Despite so much variety in cuisines, our detachment from the food we eat seems to be an almost universal experience. The hustle and bustle of cities means that convenience seems to take precedence over all other concerns.”

Lieu’s businesses will begin with local and seasonal produce, but it’s clear that her ambitions go far beyond today’s farmers’ market fare. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she lists off potential projects for her businesses. To begin with, a local milk delivery service will both root her deli in the community of Notting Hill and help her customers build a connection between the milk they drink and the small farms that produce it. Beyond the deli, she is exploring collaborations for her farming venture that range from regenerative farming to micro-forestry and stretch to the fields of tourism and education.

“There is another way. What’s needed is a positive movement to change how we think about food. By bringing the farm closer to the table, we can repair our relationship with the natural world and achieve true sustainability in our food system.  Our food system will only change if consumer habits shift towards a more sustainable way of eating. But if we don’t even know what a sustainable way of eating looks like, how can that happen? The answer is education.”

Enabling innovation

Lieu understands that as just one person, with no background in farming or food distribution, she won’t change Europe’s food system on her own. Landowners might conventionally think of a large country property as a private estate, but Lieu talks of investing in land to create a “platform” for new approaches to agriculture. Her preference is to work with fellow enthusiasts, artisans and experts, and for her enterprises to serve as an example to follow, as well as creating demand for food and products produced in a new way.

“We will only change habits if we build a movement of people yearning to reconnect with the natural world. Together we can learn to eat local, eat seasonal and celebrate the food around us. Only then will we be able to build a more sustainable food system for our planet, our farmers and our children.”

With the deli at 296 Westbourne Grove set to open within weeks and news on the farming venture to follow shortly after, Mandy Lieu is one to watch for anyone with an interest in food, farming and ecology.