Exploring Food Waste

Abstract

Our workshop “Exploring Food Waste” strives to serve as a catalyst for change, combatting food waste one scrap at a time while promoting how art can serve as a powerful tool to engage communities in working together to make a positive, lasting impact. Our project will address this by showing creative ways people can reuse food scraps and raise awareness to the problem of food waste, integrating the following artistic mediums: painting, collages, sculptures, and utilizing sustainable resources. The impact of food waste on our planet is often overlooked compared to other damaging practices that individuals partake in daily, raising questions about how to raise awareness to this issue to minimize its economic, social, and environmental damage. Scholars have examined the prevalence of food waste around the globe, with 60 million tons being wasted each year in the U.S alone and have also found which measures are effective in combatting it at the local, national, and international level. By the end of this workshop, we hope that it connects with our audience and inspires other students to grow more mindful about their behaviors and how minor changes can lead to significant change. We intend that the workshop shed light on how our behaviors play a larger role in the issues of food waste at hand no matter how small or large.