DANNIELLE TARLINTON
FEEDING 9 BILLION
GROUP PROJECT
To speculate the future of food through the design of an app that teaches children about the impacts of meat consumption.
5 WEEKS
THE PROBLEM
By the year 2050, there is expected to be 9 Billion people living on Earth. The current methods of food production can only accommodate 8 Billion, leaving ONE BILLION people with food scarcity. To cope with the demand, the meat industry needs to increase their food production by 50-73 percent. The demand for meat will significantly impact the world. There are calls for the conventional meat industry to adopt new technologies and farming systems or for new meat alternatives to be developed.
There is an imminent need to shift how people think about food, particularly their meat consumption. Using Speculative Design, the team aimed to make comment on this complex issue. We designed an educational application to help people see how things could be in the future if our way of life does not change.
THE SOLUTION
The team explored the different meat consumption alternatives and decided to research the possibilities of lab meat, edible insects, or cutting meat out of our diets altogether. These are drastic alternatives to our current meat industry as their possibility is incomprehensible to many.
We chose to address children aged between 10-14. We chose this audience because they are the group most likely to change their meat consumption, often dictating what they eat for dinner. This generation also will be significantly affected by environmental impacts of meat production within their lifetime.
The purpose of the design will provide the child with information on food alternatives and options to reduce their meat consumption and behaviour. The design will use humour, satire and technology to present ideas and engage these children. Schools could even use this design as an educational tool regarding food and sustainable practices. It is important that this information is also received by parents, therefore e-newsletters or pamphlets could be sent out. If parents gave their children livestock product free food for lunches and school canteens provided meat free alternatives, it could spark a change in the way we eat meat.
GENERATING IDEAS
For the Speculative Design our team explored how meat production is impacting the environment. We looked into ideas that could push boundaries and the limits of reality. Taking inspiration from episodes of Black Mirror, we explored shocking alternatives to meat. We explored the options of choosing between what you want to eat and providing starving people with food, cloning animals and people for food, and not eating meat at all. In the end we decided to focus on the alternatives to eating meat, and providing education on the shift towards eating less meat.
DEVELOPING THE APP
Team developed an educational app to be used by educators in classroom to inform children about meat consumption and the alternatives. Icons were created in adobe illustrator and then imported into proto.io. This process can be seen below.
THE APP
The final app design can be seen below. From start to finish, the interfaces show how the app will educate people on how their food choices impact the environment and others.
PROJECT REFLECTION
I really enjoyed this project. The opportunity to present a speculative design concept allowed our group to be creative and push boundaries. Learning about the environmental impacts of meat consumption was enlightening and also frightening, but being able to design a concept to educate people and draw attention to the issue was really exciting. The process our group undertook to complete this project focussed on the research but also how we can use speculation and the design process to change the way people see the world as it is and what it could be in the future.