We interviewed Francis, a doctoral student in design at CMU. He has conducted extensive research around “food” and utilized design for more efficient local food distribution systems and strengthening relationships between rural farms and urban communities to increase access to fresh and affordable produce. When introduced our interest area, “food waste”, he gave us a bunch of studies and efforts happening around the area which aim to reducuce food wastage from diverse approaches.
The publication, “Turning Waste into Resources rethinking the way we discard things” by Isabel Ordoñez, suggests a more sustainable alternative to current take-make-waste production culture through redefining waste as a material resources.
Steel City Soils is a pittsburgh-based group recycling food and yard waste into high quality compost for gardening. It is a succesful model that turns waste into profitable resource and suppors urban farming.
Dan Barber’s pop-up restaurant, wastED using vegetable strap and trimmed meat to create delicious dishes.
Prato de Rua(or ‘Street Dish’) initiative designed a simple sticker which can be put on dumsters so that people can easily share their excess food with others in need.
How might design help preserve vege & fruit from spoilage? Freshpaper actually deals with this question. Just putting the paper into fridge drawer or salad bag slows down the spoilage process 2–4 times organically.
This book, Foodmood, introduces a lots of projects related to food.
Newtown Creek’s Digester Eggs is a wastewater treatment plants that can turn food waste to fuel — methane. What makes it possible is anaerobic digestion process that microorganisms, such as bacteria break down biodegradable material and produce biogas.
On top of the cases, he also shared a story about his drastic change in dietary routine. He cooks once a week and eats only beans and rice. His diet was not like that. The shift was the result of exposure to a new experience which connected to memories. His travel to india and a mountain tracking with famers gave him a chance to think about food in a different way and to remind him grand parents’ lifestyle.
In addition we heard what he lately found interesting as well. There are trash cans over campus equipped with solar compactor. The illustration of a fresh, perfect cheese burger on the trash can caught his eyes and rose a question like what unconsciously. It was short but insightful anecdote.
