The document analyzes the evolving food culture, emphasizing how technology and innovation are transforming food practices and community interactions. It discusses trends such as sharing food ideas online, the artistic use of food, and sustainable practices within food production. The report serves as a resource to understand current changes in the food world and highlights various initiatives promoting convenience and environmental responsibility.

1. Moving Beyond the Table -
An Analysis of Food Culture

2. Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Questions of Interest 3
Methodology 4
How To Use This Report 4
About The Author 5
Contact Information 5
Major Trends:
Sharing Food Ideas & Discovery 6
Food Is The New Art 13
Convenience and Sustainability 20
Key Learnings & Take Aways 27
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3. Introduction Questions of Interest
Food is a necessity of life, crucial to our survival in this • What are some of the current trends that are defining our
world. It is one of the things that we focus our day around. food culture?
However, our concept of food is very different from what
• How are people being brought together through food?
it was to our ancestors and even to people of the past
century.
• How has technology affected food culture?
Food has moved beyond its literal meaning as something • What new ways are people experimenting with food?
of sustenance. But one common aspect that it has held
throughout time is the power to bring people together. • How can we work towards creating food practices that
However, today this notion of togetherness is not as are environmentally friendly?
traditional, such as the family dinner. People are uniting
through food, but in unique and different ways that have
moved passed the typical medium of table and kitchen.
Food continues to evolve as technological innovation
thrives, along with the passions of chefs and food lovers
striving to push the boundaries of conventional food ideas
and norms.
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4. Methodology How To Use This Report
Research for this report was conducted primarily online This report should be read as a type of introductory
and all information found was gathered into a Tumblr guide into the ever-changing world of food. It highlights
blog. Food blogs and trend sites were the main source unique ideas, product developments, and food inspired
of the information, along with various news sources. creativity. As with anything today, change is imminent
Inspiration for the blog and report were also found through and innovative ideas are popping up every minute.
experimenting in the kitchen and trying out ideas found
throughout the research process. Food has transformed into quite a broad topic and now
encompasses more than a single idea and definition. It
has truly taken over our lives whether directly or indirectly,
and everyone is affected by it. Therefore, it is important
to understand and recognize how food is developing
and changing and to keep up with this progress.
Use this report to familiarize yourself with the changes
taking place in the food world. This also gives you a
benchmark of what is currently taking place so that you
can be ready for the next set of trends that are just around
the corner.
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5. About The Author Contact For More Information
Marcelina Ward is currently a graduate student at the Marcelina Ward
Academy of Art University in San Francisco obtaining mward0118@gmail.com
her Master of Fine Arts in Advertising with an emphasis
in Account Planning. She will graduate in the spring of http://www.marcelinaward.tumblr.com
2011 and is looking forward to diving into the world of
advertising. Marcelina currently works as an interior
design assistant and in her free time she loves to cook,
with a special passion for baking. She also enjoys crafting,
especially around the holidays and loves anything Martha
Stewart related.
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6. Sharing Food Ideas & Discovery
Technology, the internet, and mobile applications have enabled people to share
information quickly and easily. Food sharing sites and online communities have
a large presence and allow people to share their ideas with millions of people on
a daily basis. This sharing of information brings people together while technology
enhances our method of discovery.
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7. Simplified recipes in 140 characters or less
Maureen Evans (or @cookbook as she is known on
Twitter) came up with the idea of Eat Tweet since
she loves the idea of reducing recipes down to their
simplest form. A blogger and amateur cook, Maureen
started tweeting recipes to her followers, who in turn
started sharing their own recipes and tweeting them
back to her. Maureen compiled 1,020 recipes into
a cookbook titled “Eat Tweet” which showcases
these unique 140 character or less recipes. You
might have a hard time at first trying to figure out the
abbreviations, but don’t worry, it comes with a guide
to decipher the Twitter lexicon.
http://eat-tweet.com
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8. Application to track the source of your food
HarvestMark supplies shoppers with information about
where their produce comes from. This application was
developed by YottaMark, based in Redwood City,
California, by a group of people who are dedicated to
product traceability and authentication. Anytime shoppers
see the HarvestMark logo on a product, they can then
track the source of that item by entering a sixteen digit
code through the iPhone application or online through
the website. Now the source and shopper are connected
through this application. Farms can share information
about themselves with their patrons and provide relevant
information about their produce and products.
www.harvestmark.com
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9. Website offers convenient way to track a city’s food
trucks
Zagat is now home to a food truck tracking site, which for now
focuses on New York City. It is in beta form at the moment, but
has plans to expand its location offerings. Users are able to
view trucks alphabetically, by cuisine, or just simply browse the
trucks that are in their geographic location. Although food truck
information is readily available through Twitter and specific food
truck websites, Zagat has brought all this information together
and now houses it on their website. Now people are informed of
various food trucks rather than just the ones they know, which
gives them the opportunity to try new things. Zagat has found
a simple way to share information about food trucks in one
convenient location. So forget having to sift through your tweet
feed or visiting several websites, Zagat has everything you need
to find the perfect food truck meal.
http://foodtrucks.zagat.com
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10. Holiday food finding challenge that benefits
the less fortunate
The Foodspotting Holiday 2010 Spotathon offers
foodies a fun, food finding challenge. Users are asked to
spot specific items and account for them by snapping a
quick photo, which is then shared with the Foodspotting
community on their website. Upon completion of all
items in a category, Foodspotting will donate the
appropriate animals from the Heifer International gift
catalog. For example, there is a Cow Category in which
users find 15 different food items that include milk as a
main ingredient. After finding all 15 items, a milk cow
is then gifted. Heifer International provides animals to
families in need in order to help them become self-
reliant. Through simple food and photo sharing, this
online community can feel embrace the gift giving spirit.
www.foodspotting.com/spotathon
www.heifer.org
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11. Application that encourages social eating to help
save energy
Neighbor Dining is a new social dining concept created
as a proposal from advertising student Luong Lu for the
European energy company Vattenfall. Lu’s idea centers
around the insight that many people live alone and eat
alone and waste more energy in the process. So why
not bring these people together and save energy at the
same time. The proposal for Neighbor Dining will allow
people to login into a community website, which is linked
to their utility bill, and see what is cooking in their area. If
you see what you like, then you request to join that dinner
and the host is notified of the request. You can also host
your own dinner by adding it to the menu. Guests that
attend your dinner check into your place on Foursquare
and you automatically receive a discount on your energy
bill. There is also a cooking hotline to lend some advice
to those who aren’t as savvy in the kitchen. Through the
sharing of food, people can come together to save energy
and meet new people.
http://luonglu.com
http://vimeo.com/15963081
www.vattenfall.com/en/index.htm
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12. Online food community and cookbook that allows users
to showcase and share their skills, talents, and recipes
Amanda Hesser is a New York Times Food Reporter who was
assigned to write the New York Times Cookbook. Along this journey
she met Merrill Stubb, also a fellow food writer, and as the two
continued to work on this project, they came to the realization that
the best recipes come from home cooks. This is what gave them the
idea for food52. This is a site where they allow cooks to showcase
their creations and recipes, along with starting conversations within
this food community. As a result, food52 has created an online
community cookbook that is completely user generated where
contests and voting are used determine finalists and winners. On
top of this, the food52 site houses a real-time question and answer
forum “foodpickle.” Users can ask, answer, and view all of this
through text messages, twitter, and the website.
www.food52.com
www.food52.com/foodpickle
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13. Food Is The New Art
Food is now the medium for many artists to express their creativity. No need for art
and craft stores with food providing the perfect materials for any project. Using food as
a means to create art has opened up a new world of creativity that let’s artist express
new ideas in a fun and unique way.
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14. Cookbook showcases ingredients in artful layouts
IKEA is known for their furniture and unique take on design,
but they really stepped out of the box with their cookbook
(Hembakat är Bäst - Homemade is Best). With photographer
Carl Kleiner and stylist Evalina Bratell, each of the 30 recipes
showcased in this book are shown in a way never seen
before. Two images for each recipe show the ingredients
and the final product. But instead of simply listing out the
necessary ingredients, they are shown as a visual with
exact measurements depicted in the images. The ingredient
pages alone are works of art, with the added bonus of the
final product being edible art.
www.ikea.com
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15. Edible Pizza Flags to Document World Travels
Tiny Urban Kitchen is a food blog from an east coast
woman named Jen. The premise of her blog is being able
to cook in an urban size kitchen. For one of her projects,
she decided to document and remember all the places
she has visited by making pizzas. Jen used her creativity
to come up fun ways to make the pizzas represent the
flags of the countries she has visited. She even tried to
utilize the ingredients most commonly found in each of
the countries. For example, her Italy pizza flag was made
from mozzarella, basil, and tomato. Jen found a unique
and delicious way to remember her travels, as well as
creating some amazing art that she can enjoy eating.
www.tinyurbankitchen.com/2010/10/pizza-tour-of-my-
travels.html
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16. Fashion literally taking cues from food and
cravings
Fashion trends and styles are all over the place and
find inspiration in everything these days. Ted Sabarese
and Sung Yeonju are two examples of designers finding
inspiration in food and actually taking this to the next
level and using actual food to construct their pieces.
Sabarese’s vision came from the cravings that models
have but don’t necessarily get to satiate. His project,
entitled “Hunger Pains” showcases models in completely
edible garments, using items like breads, pastas, fruits
and vegetables. He uses simple photography to truly
highlight the unique food outfits. Korean artist, Yeonju,
focuses on creating dresses that are made completely
from food. Her project is titled “Wearable Foods” and
she primarily uses food in its raw state to create these
unique silhouettes.
www.tedsabarese.com
www.yeonju.me
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17. Recreating famous works of art with
vegetables and a touch of absurdity
Chinese artist, Ju Duoqi, first started playing with
food a few years ago, stringing together peas to
create an outfit. She quickly found that vegetables
offered her a way to create pieces of art, especially
with the option to do so many different things with
the actual pieces of food, such as boiling, blanching,
rotting, wilting, and frying. She found that by
recreating famous pieces of art, she was able to
bring new meaning and emotion to these pieces.
This specific project is entitled “The Vegetable
Museum,” but she also has another project where
she showcases cabbage, titled “The Fantasies of
Chinese Cabbage.”
www.parisbeijingphotogallery.com/main/juduoqi-
works.asp
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18. Sliced vegetables to create one of a kind bowls
and jewelry
Margaret Dorfman has always found that going outside
and searching for materials has been the best way to
create art. She doesn’t believe in going to conventional
art stores. She finds inspirations in her visits to local
ethnic markets and the interesting vegetables that
each have to offer. In this respect, Margaret’s specialty
is the art of vegetable parchments. She uses an old-
fashioned mandolin slicer, along with some other tools
and knives, but everything is done by hand. Margaret
has created a line of vegetable parchment bowls and
parchment jewelry. Each of the bowls are assembled
slice by slice and then glazed with a non-toxic finish.
For the jewelry, Margaret has created cuffs, earrings,
and necklaces. With all her work, she maintains
sustainable practices by using recycled water and
packaging, composting leftovers, and donating unused
materials to the zoo.
http://margaretdorfman.com
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19. Beer that encourages musical creativity
Tuned Pale Ale is a musical kit for beer drinkers created by
Matt Braun and his partner Christopher Mufalli. Matt is a
designer, artist, and DJ, so it was only a matter of time until
he found artistic inspiration from beer. This kit contains six
beer bottles in a wooden holder and the idea is that this setup
can also be used as a drum. The wooden box and ridges
on the outside of the bottle enable one to use this kit as a
percussion instrument. While the label on the bottle depicts
where it can be held in order to produce certain musical
notes when using it as a wind instrument. Braun wants to
show people the musical qualities of beer and encourage
them to experiment on their own.
http://2d3d5d.com/work/Tuned-Pale-Ale#http://upl1nk.com/
media/images/mattbraun/Tunedpaleale-web.jpg
www.coroflot.com/christophermufalli/Tuned-Pale-Ale/1
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20. Convenience and
Sustainability
Environmental issues are at the forefront and we are
constantly trying to figure out new ways to reduce our
impact on the earth, along with teaching people how to
live a greener lifestyle. We should alter our current food
practices and make them more convenient and available.
By doing so we make the transition easier for those looking
to adopt these practices into their daily lives.
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21. Simple and smell-free way to compost in
any home
Composting is now required by law in many
states, yet some people are still taken back by
the idea or more so the smell of it. Fuccillo Studio
has designed the perfect way to compost in the
home. Made from non-toxic silicone, the freezer
compost bin allows users to throw compostable
items into the bin and then store it in the freezer.
By doing so, this eliminates all the problems most
people deal with when home composting. The
sleek and modern design of the bin also adds to
the uniqueness of this product. No more flies, no
more mess, no more smell, and the perfect way
to compost.
http://fuccillodesign.myshopify.com
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22. Pub adheres to strict rules to lower carbon footprint
The Duke of Cambridge is a British pub located in Islington,
London, however, they are unconventional in their approach
to their business and menu in comparison to other pubs.
The Duke of Cambridge is the only gastropub to be certified
by the Soil Association. They are committed to serving local,
organic, fair trade, and sustainable food, which adheres
them to strict environmental rules. For example, nothing is
brought in by plane, beer comes from local breweries, and
meat comes from small, local farms that are respectful of the
animals, all to guarantee a low carbon footprint. Even with
all these rules and food practices, they still manage to serve
amazing food. Their menu is always changing, sometimes
twice a day, given what’s available on a particular day.
And no surprise, The Duke of Cambridge has won several
awards for their ethical gastropub.
www.dukeorganic.co.uk
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23. Compost center recycling food waste into alternative
energy and electricity
Composting or recycling food waste is traditionally used to
create fertile soil and compost, however, a Seattle based
compost center is recycling this waste for other uses.
Cedar Grove Composting is now collecting food and yard
waste in order to turn it into natural gas and electricity. After
trucks bring in loads of food waste, the center adds bacteria
to the loads to help break it down. After this process, it
is then transferred to a closed container where it starts to
release large amounts of methane. Instead of releasing
these gases into the atmosphere, they store them and will
eventually burn the methane and in turn power and heat
the compost facility. This natural gas also has the potential
to provide electricity.
www.cedar-grove.com/default.asp
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24. Environmentally friendly way to deliver
farm fresh food
Farm fresh food delivery is not a new concept,
but Minnesota based VeloVeggies, founded by
Randall Dietell, is taking the idea one step further
and is using a method that produces zero-
emissions. VeloVeggies uses their VegBoxes
to pack farm fresh produce to deliver to the
doorsteps of their customers, but they are unique
in that they deliver their boxes by bike. Even
better, they bike deliver these boxes the same
day that they are packed. And to top it all off, they
also pick up compostable waste from Minnesota
homes. They are truly an example of a company
that support local and community agriculture
along with their commitment to green practices.
http://veloveggies.com
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25. Insects as a possible source of food with a low
environmental impact
Numerous countries around the world already eat insects and
have been for quite some time. However, the Western world
has yet to openly welcome this practice. Marc Dennis is on
a mission to change the perception of entomophagy, or the
practice of eating insects. He launched his website to share
his knowledge on the subject, along with hosting bug dinner
parties. He doesn’t charge for his dinners since his goal is to
spread the word about this practice. He has just reason for this
mission, since there are over 1,400 species of edible insects.
They are also a great source of protein and are a possible
solution to the negative impact of traditional livestock farming.
With insect farming, costs are low as well as the environmental
impact. Dennis has also found ways to humanely prepare the
insects to reduce any insect cruelty..
www.insectsarefood.com
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26. City garden visualizes and teaches food sustainability
Landgrab City is a large scale vegetable garden located
in the middle of Shenzhen in Hong Kong as part of the
Shenzhen & Hong Kong bi-city Biennale of Urbanism/
Architecture. Joseph Grima, Jeffrey Johnson, and José
Esparza were commissioned to create this educational
installation. However, this is no ordinary garden, not only
because of its size, but because of its message. The actual
garden and plot of land represents a scaled down map
of the city. The purpose of this garden project is to teach
food sustainability and visually demonstrate how much
food is needed to feed 4.5 million people, which is the total
surrounding population. Another goal of this project is to
end food scarcity and to influence changes in international
food policies.
www.dezeen.com/2010/01/12/landgrab-city-by-joseph-
grima-jeffrey-johnson-and-jose-esparza/
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27. Key Learnings & Take Aways
• Food culture and food trends are always changing and are directly effected by the surrounding society.
• The internet and mobile applications have allowed people to connect and share food ideas and information quickly and
easily through these platforms.
• Food is now a medium in which artists can use these ingredients to create unique pieces of art.
• Environmental issues are forcing people to re-think the idea of food and food sustainability.
• Food is no longer a single idea or definition and has merged with multiple subjects, such as technology and art.
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