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Korea steps up efforts to get US Congress to pass Kimchi Day
National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, left, shakes hands with Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. CEO Kim Chun-jin at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday, after agreeing to cooperate to promote kimchi and pass Kimchi Day at the U.S. House of Representatives next month. Courtesy of Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp.
By Ko Dong-hwan
Kimchi / gettyimagesbank
Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. (aT) and the National Assembly Speaker have agreed to jointly ramp up efforts to get the lower chamber of the U.S. Congress to pass Kimchi Day, according to the state-run company. Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish consisting of salted and fermented vegetables.
Kim Chun-jin, CEO of aT, met the country's parliamentary speaker Kim Jin-pyo at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday, and discussed ways to have Kimchi Day earn enough votes from legislators in the House of Representatives. The idea was introduced as a new resolution to the House last April by Republican representative for California's 40th congressional district Rep. Kim Young. She sponsored the resolution with 14 co-sponsors – nine Democrats and five Republicans.
The aT CEO and U.S. representative said the enactment of Kimchi Day is not just about promoting the Korean traditional side dish. The campaign aims to highlight sustainable dietary lifestyles by reducing meat consumption and contributing to global carbon neutralization. Over 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, consumption and waste, according to aT.
The CEO of aT requested the parliamentary speaker join the company's initiative to recognize Kimchi Day, to promote low-carbon dietary lifestyles throughout the world and develop it into a global campaign. He also thanked the speaker for having suggested the idea to Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives whose final term ran from 2019 to last January, when she paid a state visit to Seoul in August 2022.
Last April, Rep. Kim introduced a resolution called "H.Res. 280: Expressing support for the designation of November 22, 2023, as 'Kimchi Day'." It said kimchi is a "probiotic food that serves as an excellent source of beta-carotene, calcium, potassium, dietary fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K" that "can lower rates of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes."
Kimchi has been gaining popularity in the U.S. as evidenced by an increase in available kimchi-related food products, restaurant menu items, and interest from non-Korean consumers, the resolution added.
Passage of the resolution will be determined in a plenary meeting of the House on Dec. 6.
The resolution was previously introduced by House Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York in July 2022 but the 117th Congress session, then, ended without mulling on it.
Kimchi Day has been aT's campaign since 2021 when it was supported by 34 local authorities in Korea and received further support from 550 authorities in 30 countries, according to aT. Twelve states and cities of America including Washington D.C., California, New York and Virginia as well as Brazil's Sao Paulo, Argentina and Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames in London, the U.K., have publicly introduced Kimchi Day so far.