Back To The Dining Table
by Zak Cannon. See more of Louise Knoppert’s work here.
Food is something that unites people in a common passion or simply a similar desire for something tasty. Many of us eat a meal three times a day without thinking any differently, but tens of thousands of people a year have a tube installed in their stomachs permanently for direct feeding. These people cannot adhere to the norm of eating food at a table along with their family and friends. Many suffer from this lack of involvement at dinner time- those with dementia, terminal illnesses, neurological diseases, and even very young children who have a difficult time consuming food can not enjoy their meals along with their peers.
Louise Knoppert, a designer from the Netherlands, has created an innovative solution for a complex problem. How can you bring those who cannot eat back to the dining table? She has created a series of nine tools one can use to experience the taste of the food those around them are eating without digesting (or even swallowing) the food on their plate. The set includes a variety of sensations, movements, and flavors an individual can partake in.
Knoppert has not only created something aesthetically pleasing, but something that could be enormously life-changing for thousands of people. The medical field is already interested in using her designs in their patient’s meals. As a result of her ingenuity, Knoppert was nominated for a Better Award.
