Disciplines data visualization – photography –poster design –research
Story
How is it possible that one third of the world’s food production is thrown away, while 840 million people suffer from starvation? Food waste is everywhere. It begins at farms. Farmers systematically produce too much food to be sure they can deliver enough. Surpluses are thrown away.
But to the consumers, the producers are not the biggest contributors. In the European Union, the producers are responsible for 34% of the food waste, while, on the other hand, the consumers are responsible or 41%. Supermarkets waste less than the consumers. Whereas Belgian consumers throw away 25% of their purchased food, supermarkets limit their food waste to 2.5% through cooperation with food banks.
In 2014, 130.000 people were depending on food banks in Belgium. The growing population in Brussels has boosted the demand for housing, resulting in a significant increase of the rental fees. As a result, people have less money available for other expenses such as food. In Belgium, food is the second largest expense after housing. With this research, I want to look into food waste worldwide.
I focused on Brussels, where not only a lot of food is wasted but also a significant part of the population is living in poverty. Here too consumers are the biggest contributors to food waste.
Through literary search an overview is given of the current status of the problem. The main figures are transferred to infographics: in order to enhance the visualization these infographics are photographed food. This research revealed that massive amounts of food is wasted worldwide. In this respect, the role of the consumers should not be underestimated. If no food was wasted, there would be enough for a world without starvation.
Design
Graphics about food waste made out of real food. No food waste in the design process. After the photoshoot all the food was eaten.
Beautiful future
A future without food waste.
Wanna read more?
Just download the research paper!
