This product was in some ways similar to our space food project that we have begun to make. This back-country packing and guiding company prints there business cards out on flattened beef jerky. Then when people are in the back country they can literally eat the card. 

Our space food has evolved into a similar physical card form, however is composed of good nutrient foods mixed together and dehydrated into cards. Our product makes a comment about the need for efficient nutrients in our speed efficiency obsessed society. 

This plate is interesting because after the buyer eats the words reveal the chiefs name, and in some cases the ingredients and recipes used. 

Check out:

Its an interesting site because it showcases food products and packaging that are utilized for promotion gain. 

blog.epromos.com/ archives/hot_product/

this is a plate that is currently in production. It's called the Magic Salad Plate and the salad is built in to look real. It is designed to make the user not feel judged as they eat, and allows them to hide bad for you foods. 

Research Update

Ongoing Research:

Group Project-

We are interested in taking the efficiency on space food and moving it to earth. We have played with the idea of packaging the condensed food into edible cards. This form also makes a comment on the American societies relationship to food, echoed in Micheal Pollan's writing. We are rushed and we are in need of things that are better for our bodies. Therefore nutritious foods mixed together and dried into a card form makes since. People can have stacks of cards and grab as many as they need. Another discussion that came up is that idea of a deck of cards. Perhaps  on the back the label would translate how many cards equal a certain amount of calories....? We are playing with a fruit dehydrator currently to see what food mixtures are most suitable for our space earth food. 

Individual Project:

I have begun to talk with experts and am continuing to research the possibility of a green house within a shower, both clarifying the air and providing a organic (possibly eatable) garden to urban apartment dwellers with limited space. I have talked with Zoe Bradberry and Abby Bradberry who operate and own Valley Flora organic garden. They both have worked with Micheal Pollan and also with major organic gardening movements within the United States. Zoe was involved in the King Corn movie. I also have read literature about  what conditions certain plants can survive in, and looked at examples of plants being grown within showers. i'll hopefully have a clearer idea about this concept later this week

This is a top view of the famous Martha Stewart Garden. Each row contains a different crop and its a pretty amazing organization. 

Shower Greenhouse Concept

Urban Gardening In Small Spaces

I began to think of products that can be used in organic farming. And in the environment we live in it is relatively easy to find the space to create even small gardens. But what about in a small Manhattan apartment like my cousin lives in? I spend a chunk of every summer in Manhattan and am always struck by how space is a precious commodity. Today I began to think about creating an organic garden within the constraints of city living. This developed into the concept of a urban shower green house. Plants need water, light, and soil essentially. What if a light was attached to the shower ceiling and plants feed off the condensation of the shower, as well as perhaps additional waterings? The shower is a relatively dead space  in city living. If a small tray like greenhouse hung at the top it could be really interesting, and effective. I'm going to pursue this and look at what types of plants could live in such an environment. 

More Research:

Clean Air Priority Fixes in the Bath

By: Anne B. Bond

The bathroom is a room that often has very poor indoor air quality. In fact, it is usually one of the most polluted rooms in the home. One reason for this is because it frequently a small, closed room without adequate ventilation. But the biggest cause for the poor air quality is the types of products commonly used there.

Here are the top three highest priority fixes for cleaning the air in your bathroom:

• 1. If you receive municipal water, install water filters for both the shower head and the tub faucet to eliminate chlorine. If your water comes from a well, make sure your water is filtered with a whole-house filter, or at the tap.
•  Switch all personal care products to ones with natural scents, not synthetic fragrance. Look on labels for essential oils and avoid those with the word “fragrance.”
•  Substitute green cleaning products for any product you use in the bathroom (cleaning, pesticide, etc.) with a signal word on its label stronger than a “caution.” The “green” products available on the market in health food stores and health section of the supermarket can cover all your cleaning needs in the bathroom.

Although ventilation and mold would be concerns of a "shower garden" the plant life would filter the air and benefit the overall health of the space.

"AWARENESS MEAL"

I was thinking about the relationship between food and media. How is food defined by advertisements? And how in turn do people perceive food differently because of advertising and packaging. In a world where people clearly are disconnected from the raw food elements this becomes very intriguing. Few people actually know what is in their food, and if they take time to read a label they still often do not understand. I'm interested in how labeling and packaging impact what we eat. Consider if you took a happy meal and replaced all the fast food with organically grown contents that are healthy. Or what if inside junk food containers the contents were the raw elements that went into making that food. Building awareness through this type of display interests me. I was thinking it would be interesting to make an entire meal where you would open everything and find the raw material that the food itself requires to make. It could be an "awareness meal".

Assignment 2: Problem/Solution

MIchael Pollen "The Botany Of Desire"

Michael Pollen 

"The Botany Of Desire"

This book is really intriguing. In it Pollen introduces the concept that plants use humans to move around the world, and to survive as species. He uses the example of the potato. He argues that the potato has in fact taught humans to do its biding and in return has been taken all over the world. 

check these out:

http://www.eatmedaily.com

http://adsoftheworld.com/taxonomy/industry/food

Cook in the CAR

I saw this innovative design and thought it was interesting. It harnesses energy in a clever way.

Manifesto:

"Redefining space food on EARTH"

NASA space food FACTS

1. some foods require adding water (ie: macaroni and spaghetti)
2. No refrigerators in space
3. salt and pepper are only available in liquid form (otherwise they would float away)
4. Normally given three meals a day
5. try to get balanced vitamins and minerals
6. Packaging is thrown in a trash compactor
7. some packaging is designed to keep food from floating around
8. Bread is never eaten because the crumbs float around

                                                                     SPACEFOOD

We have been researching space food and how to dehydrate foods. Our concept is to create cubes of food that contain maximum nutrition with minimal packaging and space used for the meal. It will become a super efficient way to eat meals. The idea is to focus on the main food groups and choose the foods with the most nutritious value, and then to mix them into condensed cubes. 

When you consider how much space is taken up in the process of packaging, shipping , storing, and displaying food the idea of food in condensed forms makes logical sense beyond the bounds of space. 

• concentrating on the main food groups.
• finding a super efficient way to maximize nutrition with minimal packaging and space
• making cubes of food mixed together
• dehydrating food and having it lay flat like a fruit roll up. Marking black lines on it to show how it will be rationed. One meal is between the marks. 

considering food layouts: Martha

These are part of Martha Stewart's cupcake display. Each becomes its own art piece, explaining how Martha has built an empire based on food as art. Her displays of food in her magazine are amazing. Just how the food is placed is intriguing. 

Check it out:

http://www.marthastewart.com/food

Cube Food?

Cube Food

If a Banana is in the shape of a cube it no longer is visually interpreted as a banana. Does this change individuals relationships and feelings towards the food? My partner and I began discussing putting food into cubes, reassembling food prepared for astronauts. If food was mixed into a cube it would eliminate space for transport, packaging, and shortens meal time. Its like super efficient nutrition. 

After our first studio I began to think about how both sounds (like songs) and tastes are associated with memories. A taste has the ability to bring back past places, people, and times. Apple pie instantly brings me to the small yellow Connecticut kitchen of my Grandma. This brought me to the concept of food in test tubes. Instead of interacting with food with slight and taste instead interact through smell. I imagined all these test tubes that you would open, sniff, and then reflect upon. This is clearly not any developed concept but I thought it was interesting. 

KING CORN

After watching the movie clips in class I was really intrigued by the concept of tracking a meal back to its orgin, like the hamburger. I watched the short film King Corn and loved it. It is a movie produced by two college grad who explore the relationship between corn and corn syrup. They plant one acre of corn and track it though production. It discussed the implications of corn fed cows and how a large majority of corn is never eaten as corn. With a combination of  government subsidies, genetically modified seeds, and herbicides corn is creating huge health problems for the masses. 

check it out:

http://www.kingcorn.net/