If we look at the food we eat, it is not so long ago that it was grown in the gardens and farmed locally, in season and without a computer in sight. Now, in the kitchen you might have a digital assistant for your shopping list, a smart fridge, and QR codes on packaging showing food provenance. You've probably ordered food from an app, whether it is a supermarket delivery, food to prepare at home from a local restaurant or hot food from a takeaway. You might also share pictures of your cooking on social media. Attitudes and information about growing food support different needs, lifestyles, cultures and rituals that provide cues to how and where people participate. In farming technologies abound, with smart agriculture is one of automation, without humans within formation on all aspects of the global food supply chain. Closed loop systems lock farmers into automatic seed, pesticide purchasing, water and carbon management. What happens in our own and different cultures, with different knowledge, in places that regenerate the land working with nature and supporting biodiversity, not against it.
As a response students explored alternate approaches to smart food growing, with consideration of the different ways that people can grow, cook and share food and how might we bring awareness of wider issues relating to wellbeing, biodiversity, environment and climate change.
High fidelity SAYS (Scan as you shop) prototype 'Nudge' in action
Customer enters shop (TESCO) and takes 'SAYS Scanner' from charging port near entrance. Customer makes their way to the fresh produce aisle and picks up broccoli.
Customer wants to make broccoli soup for dinner. Broccoli is scanned the by the device.
'Nudge' intervention flags up on scanner. Customer notices this and reads the info displayed on the screen.
It states that the produce has been harvested and travelled 774km to the store, It has been sat on the shelf for 4 days, ripeness % shows it is ready to eat. It is however out of season.
After reading these details listed for that specific batch of broccoli, the customer has the decision to make on whether they will continue by 'confirming' to the basket or alternatively 'discarding' the produce as they understand it is not the most ethical purchase available.
The customer decides to place the broccoli back and discards from basket. Broccoli soup can wait until summer where it will be locally sourced from nearby farms.
The nudge theory implemented within this current existing SAYS device is not to completely abolish imported produce and change consumer patters entirely towards seasonal. The hope would be for the information provided in this early intervention to sway customer patterns over a duration to eventually see the customers taking ownership over the effect food has on our environment as well as supporting local farmers and distributers.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)