Copenhagen Chronicle

"Goodbye Farvel Addio Adeus Do widzenia Güle güle अलविदा Hej då Adéu Au revoir"

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:22:00 +0200

“Goodbye
Farvel
Addio
Adeus
Do widzenia
Güle güle
अलविदा
Hej då
Adéu
Au revoir”

- That’s every language spoken by the class

This post comes after a very looooooong silence. One I...

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:08:20 +0200

This post comes after a very looooooong silence. One I attribute to sheer exhaustion.

After completing my final project, exhibiting at the end-of-year show and graduating, I was pretty much completely done and didn’t even have it in me to come and wrap things up here. So here’s what has happened.

I finished the ‘Made from Scratch’ website.
I don’t know how long I’ll keep it online, at least another year though.

We had an end-of-year show with all the great projects done by the class. It was an impressive affair, if I may say so myself.

I graduated! And with that, all of a sudden, without much warning, the journey was over. 12 months of learning, exploring, experimenting, failing and discovering with 20 wonderful classmates at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design.

The first ‘Made from scratch’ prototype. I finally...

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:48:26 +0200

The first ‘Made from scratch’ prototype. I finally put together a video from the evening.

Made from scratch

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:43:00 +0200

Made from scratch:

The website is really coming together. It isn’t done yet, but i’m getting there.

The ‘Made from scratch’ video is done! :)

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:06:00 +0200

The ‘Made from scratch’ video is done! :)

More prototyping

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:51:08 +0200

Kirsti hosted a ‘Made from scratch’ last night. This prototype is much more faithful to the concept. Kirsti hosted the dinner for her friends based on the information I had given her about the dinner.

It sounds like it went well. :)

Update with photos/videos coming soon.

MADE FROM SCRATCH Tag-line ‘Made from scratch’ is...

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:04:15 +0200

MADE FROM SCRATCH

Tag-line

‘Made from scratch’ is a food experiment that gets people tasting, thinking, and talking about the way they buy, cook and eat.

Description

Most of us are aware of the growing concerns about food practices and their impact on the planet and people. Many experts have shared their insights with us and asked us to make changes such as eating less meat, buying local, or giving up fast food. We’ve all assessed their arguments and developed our own opinions. Maybe you buy organic occasionally. Maybe you only shop at the local farmers’ market. Maybe you think there is nothing wrong with McDonald’s - it’s affordable, satisfying food.

Whatever your opinion, ‘Made from scratch’ intends to disrupt the status quo. It intends to get you tasting, thinking, and talking about how you buy, cook and eat.

‘Made from scratch’ is a food experiment. You invite 4 friends for a home-cooked meal where each person cooks one course of the meal. There is just one rule - all the food must be cooked from scratch. That means no spice mixes, stock cubes or ready-to-cook food. This simple experiment triggers complex conversations. By cooking and eating the meal, you inadvertently engage in sustainable actions such as buying fresh, local or seasonal produce, or avoiding highly processed foods. The dialogue initiated hopefully leads to a re-evaluation of your relationship with food.

People learn of the experiment from flyers at their local cafes and grocery stores or on the website. The website provides information on hosting a ‘Made from scratch’ and provides the space to share your experiences with other people.

User research revealed that there is no lack of information on sustainable food. There are credible organisations and experts providing facts, statistics, forecasts, instructions and even resorting to scare tactics. These informative, educational approaches appeal to us, as rational human beings, to make “the right choices”.

But decisions aren’t always rational, especially when it comes to food, which is so personal and emotional. When most vegetarians are asked why they gave up meat, they don’t answer “to reduce my carbon footprint.” They usually say “because it just felt right.”

‘Made from scratch’ is built on the belief that people’s behaviours can be influenced by experiences that challenge their established patterns. It doesn’t aim to instruct people about what they should or shouldn’t do. Instead it aims to stimulate them to question and investigate sustainability and food.
—-
Having to do this documentation forced some clarity.

"The story behind the food we eat should be a good one that we can be proud of"

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:12:15 +0200

“The story behind the food we eat should be a good one that we can be proud of”

- Joshua Viertel of Slow Food USA

Joshua Viertel of Slow Food USA at Feast 2009

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:11:22 +0200

Joshua Viertel of Slow Food USA at Feast 2009

Postcards about ‘Made from scratch’

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:45:58 +0200

Postcards about ‘Made from scratch’

Post review - making sense of things

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0200

Why am I creating Food experiences?
People are aware and have a lot of information. There are many websites and books and campaigns by experts instructing them about what they need to be doing. But people are settled into a pattern and are resistant to having it disrupted.

For those who are in a “coma” about the way they eat their food -

The food challenge are meant to disrupt the way they do things. To force them to do things differently, in a way that inadvertently is more sustainable.

These challenges could go on food and cooking websites. Be a part of a larger campaign. There are many mainstream champions of the cause like BBC, famous chefs like Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay etc., campaigns like “Love Food, Hate Waste”.

For those who are aware and asking for an experience -

This performative dinner is in itself a provoking, controversial experience that is meant to reiterate things they know and pull them to the foreground.

If they cannot be convinced by the argument then maybe by the taste and experience.

This morning I went on a pickup trip with Christopher from Din...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:28:00 +0200

This morning I went on a pickup trip with Christopher from Din Baghave. We collected fresh vegetables and herbs that had been picked earlier this morning from 3 farms around Zealand. This was my first time heading out of Copenhagen to see some Danish countryside.

There was a lot of produce - carrots, radishes, potatoes, peas, broccoli, courgettes, peppers and leafy greens of types that I have never seen before. There was also an amazing variety of herbs including some really unusual ones like red basil and pineapple sage. By the end, the back of the van looked like a forest and it smelt really good.

Christopher knows a lot about sustainability, organic food, cooking and eating. It was great to have a chance to chat with him. I learnt a lot and its sparked a few ideas.

A plan. That’s what I need.

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:53:38 +0200

A plan. That’s what I need.

Serendipitous encounter

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:06:03 +0200

When I was out and about in the city offering people cupcakes, I met Christopher from Din Baghave (which means ‘Your Backyard’ in Danish) which is a very exciting young company that sources and sells vegetables from farms around Copenhagen. They are all about local, seasonal food.

I’m really excited to spend some time with them and perhaps even do some experiments with them if they are willing.

I baked 2 big batches of cupcakes; one with fresh strawberries...

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:53:00 +0200

I baked 2 big batches of cupcakes; one with fresh strawberries and one with artificial strawberry flavour; and I went out into the street challenging people to test their taste buds. They were asked to try one and figure out if they had the real or the artificial strawberry cupcake.

Most people know the real from the fake but usually they had to give it some thought. Some had quite a professional approach and started with a nice long sniff.

Smokers were poor tasters and admitted to being so. Whenever people had a chance, they swapped cupcakes and then the difference was plain as day.

To many people the artificial flavour cupcakes just tasted like generic fruit or vanilla. One little boy said they tasted like blueberry cupcakes! One girl said they tasted like cheap strawberry candy. She hit the nail on the head.

I must say that this was a really fun “prototype” and I especially enjoyed making so many people smile, even when they didn’t stop for a cupcake.

CREDITS: Thanks Mayo for coming along and taking these lovely photos! :)

Advice

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:39:44 +0200

Possible outcomes -
1. A speculative vision of what the project accomplishes and what it would be like
2. A larger, grander final experiment/experience that is a culmination of all the experiments I have done. It can be extraordinary on different levels - the number of people, the venue, the layers of interaction.
It should be documented in a manner that it can be shared and understood by those who are not present.

Directions -
The performative experience that engages people in an ‘act’ that is unfamiliar where they must all attempt to understand the game at play - or - a familiar food experience with a twist that lends it new meaning and triggers dialogue.
A willing audience that wants to participate - or - an unwilling audience who must be wooed.
A direct communicative experience - or - a complex experience that needs to be unpacked.
Strangers - or - related people together

Remember -
Start working backwards from what the grand finale is and hence what further experiments are needed.
Materiality and objects of interaction are important along with the rules of play
The effectiveness of the experiments is almost apparent but the experience needs to be “enterable”.
Think about the presentation experience - the small examples that you can bring to the table will probably not express the whole. Talk about how this is interaction design from the start, not defensively. Talk about the entire journey of exploring all the aspects of food.
Think about the exhibition experience - it should be manageable by other people too.

via Benfu Thanks Mayo!

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:07:13 +0200

via Benfu

Thanks Mayo!

1st course - Pea soup with creme fraiche and horse radish -...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:14:40 +0200

1st course - Pea soup with creme fraiche and horse radish - Alex

2nd course - Potato and pea samosas - Marcin

3rd course - Pizza - Jesper

4th course - Rocket, radish and asparagus salad - Eilidh

5th course - Lime and lemon mousse with kiwi - Shruti

As we ate each course, the cook was asked to explain what they had made and how. Both Alex and Marcin used peas but Marcin went the extra mile and bought whole peas that he then shelled versus Alex who used frozen ones.

If you consider that whole peas arent available all year round, right there is a little lesson in eating seasonally.

Jesper who had the main course had by far the most questions. All week I got clarifications like “is using yeast cooking from scratch?” and many times I was unsure too. His first plan of doing Danish meatballs and potatoes had to be changed because we had a vegetarian person. Once he decided To make pizza he had to get find a good recipe for the base. For that he turned to Martina, our italian food expert who gave him her family recipe.

Another little lesson in eating traditionally and learning what your grandmother knows about food.

Jesper ended up using some salami which broke the rules of cooking from scratch. He said that it was “just meat” and that he did not want to go to the butcher.

Would he have been able to buy meat and cook it if he had to go to the butcher and select a cut from looking at the animal?

The salad course which probably seemed the simplest was all about eating what is in season - rocket, radishes and asparagus.

For the dessert, Eilidh and I discussed a great deal if using flour was in the rules. I agreed that it is greatly processed. However it contains no additives and secondly, wheat in its seed form is not consumable by humans. It needs to be converted to flour if we are to eat it.

Yet for arguments sake I decided not to use flour. The dessert and meal on the whole ended up using double cream and creme fraiche and cheese. One can argue that these are processed states of milk.

So how much processing is too much processing?

Berlin break over. Now back to work.It was all about food -...

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:12:01 +0200

Berlin break over. Now back to work.
It was all about food - eating a lot of it!

Impromptu discussion

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:07:49 +0200

Talking to David and Ulrik today, we just ended up talking about my projects and it was really helpful. Here is some of what I learnt -

1. Everyone has a food story to share - something that was drummed into them as children and is still a part of their relationship to food.

2. My simple idea of - going back to what we know, appreciating cooking & food traditions - is powerful and communicative.

3. They liked the thought of making it infectious. Turning it into an activity that can be propagated. It can then be documented and shared in many ways.

4. Be cautious and aware of using spaces like the gallery as they colour the experience.

5. Call Michael Pollan when I have something good. :)