Wednesday, February 3, 2010

interfaces to future food



Affordable, high quality food, it's everyone's wish but alas most good food is for many just too expensive to eat on a day to day basis. It is no secret anymore that the food market is mostly dominated by a few multinational capitalist companies, and a lot of people are seeking alternatives to liberate themselves from these long and food-deadening supply chains. Home growing is a nice idea, but we lack the technologies and time to be our own farmer. So what about designing new food, that grows in new ways?

An idea explored by many, notably Philips Design's Probes team, but Matt Brown from The Umea institute of Interaction design has some fresh new ideas for making home growing accessible. Moreover, it's just beautiful. A printer that creates eggs, with yolks the shape you want them. A stick in a hole that grows food on it over time. Simply wait, pull it out, and eat. Disconnection from 'nature', sure. But I do believe this is the way for food. In becoming more artificial we can reconnect to nature even more deeply, by realizing that there was never a separation between nature and what we make. And we will find our true creativity, and the supreme beauty of this whole we are part of.

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