Why does food need design? | Sonia Massari | TEDxOrtygia

Sonia cooperates with food companies and research institutes as coach, designer and consultant. From TEDxOrtygia stage, Sonia shares what a huge potential could unleash if the global food supply chain and the world of design could manage to team up.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

"And this is design food:

design-based foods are nicer"

"Why are this design?"

"Because we used design cakes -

this is a design cupcake.

And these are design tortellini,
which are so good.

Design cupcakes are so good,

with a little salt, lots of olive oil.

And this was made with little salt,
and plenty of fish.

(Applause)

This was a little girl,
two and half years old,

to whom I asked this question:

"Why are these design tortellini,
why is this design food?

She was playing in the kitchen,
just like all kids do,

and she replied, because it’s good
and it’s delicious!.

How many of you,
if I speak food and design,

think of something beautiful,

esthetically interesting,
coloured or decorated?

Raise your hands. Almost everyone.

If I were to ask how many of you think
that it also means good,

then perhaps there would be
fewer people in agreement.

No worries, 90% of people

think that design is only connected
to food aesthetically.

This is what I am asked

every time I do a presentation
on food and design,

such as "come with the beautiful examples

of cake design, a beautiful dish,

something colourful, a lovely restaurant".

Today I would like to talk with you
about something different,

and show you

that the design of the world of food
can also have other applications,

something that perhaps
is not that well known.

Think of the great economic damage

in Marche, Central Italy,
after the earthquake,

because the stables were destroyed.

The animals were dying of hunger and cold.

A young designer, a student of design,

met a farmer and said,

"Why don’t we use these drones

to bring feed to the animals in need?

This also gives us the chance
to monitor the situation,

and hopefully find a solution
to the problems".

In Syria, 95% of some cities
were completely destroyed,

buildings were torn down to dust.

Now we hope,

after eight years of conflict,
that these people can return home.

Yet, their places will have no buildings,
their cities will need reconstruction.

And rebuilding is the easiest part:

the idea will be to feed
all the people in these cities.

So let’s imagine that from the rubble
we can create new bricks,

from which we can produce

and cultivate edible food.

In these growing cities,
where the population continues to rise,

how will we feed the city?

There are technologies,
such as hydroponics and aquaponics

that can be used
for these emerging scenarios,

and we can use water, air for our crops.

Understanding the flows of immigration
in the Mediterranean is no easy business.

Yet the only consistently sure thing is,

people in the Mediterranean Sea
are tied by their ingredients.

We have always shared
the same ingredients.

Let’s imagine an instrument
that binds us together in a dialogue,

as with the same instrument

we can cook all the kitchens
of the Mediterranean.

Belonging and integration,
instead of confrontation and attack.

Packaging helps us in many ways,

such as preservation, transportation

and an improved ability not to waste.

However, it can also be true
that packaging itself is a waste,

because not all packaging is biodegradable

and is absolutely not natural.

So let’s imagine a different
kind of packaging,

that comes from food itself,

a packaging that will expire

when the food inside will.

Think of a packaging made
from olive oil, rice or algae.

Eurisko researchers tell us

that 51% of people
are interested in this model,

or have already used

a take away service.

So this is a big trend.

But what if takeaway food

was also handmade, home-made food,

as it used to be, following traditions?

So we could rebuild
good neighborhood relationships

because we can buy from people next door,

and this food could become
a means of communication and reunion.

70% of marine birds and 80% of turtles

eat plastic.

I have no data for fish, but they also do
and we eat them afterwards.

An artisanal beer company met a designer

and they thought, "why don’t we make
biodegradable plastic beer rings,

so they can dissolve,

made with the leftovers of the beer,
of the fermentation process,

like wheat and barley,

to create something
that will dissolve in the ocean,

and in turn become food for animals?".

A food system that creates another one,

because food can change
and become something else.

Our leftovers can become stuff

to feed 3D printers
to create new objects.

For example,

what if farmers could produce containers
from their leftovers and waste.

These farmers could find in design,
in turn, network-based solutions.

A network that could allow them

to solve many problems
of the current market.

As you can see, I’ve used many labels:

"design for food", "urban food system
design","social food design".

These are some of the categories we use,

and it is also hard, often, to draw a line

to assess where social design ends,
or systemic design ends.

Let's just say, all of this is design:

design applied throughout
the food supply chain.

What is design?

Design is nothing more

than the skills and knowledge we need
to solve complex problems.

Design, in the English language
means "planning",

not "beauty", like we often think.

There is no doubt,
design has changed over time

because societies, and their needs,
have also changed.

But it is always design.

At the beginning there was
the industrial expansion,

we were always in search
of new products, objects

and therefore, there was
an intensive use of industrial design,

in what became popular
as "industrial design".

As we evolve, scenarios change,

design is applied in different contexts:

the attention starts
with a focus on the user,

then on the interaction
between users and objects,

and then, with the digital
increasingly present,

to a very high experiential level.

So we focus on the experience.

Imagine that a designer
must raise your interest

for a piece of plastic, like your iPhone.

It is simply a piece of plastic,

but how many experiences
you make with it?

Possibilities for a designer
become countless,

yet there is also a constant risk
to create unnecessary, useless things.

So we re-focus on the mankind,
humans, their values.

Design compels us to think,

what are the real values for men?

In food, this is fundamental,

because the values are determined
by the relationship we have with food.

Our relationship with food comes
from cultural mediations

that we create all across the food chain.

The food chain is long -
production, distribution, marketing,

consumption and post-consumption.

We mentioned the waste, the education.

It is fundamental to work and project
on top of human values.

When people say that food design,
or design applied to food, is a new trend,

it is not so true, as I mentioned before:

during industrial booming,

design approached food

producing, creating and manufacturing
new products and objects.

I think that you will recognize this:

It's the wheel of licorice,
a patented design since 1934.

[Design does need food]

Back then,

and with the economic boom,
and industrial expansion,

we can almost say,
design mostly needed food.

The more food there was,
the bigger the need to design.

Which also partly explains

why design sold its soul to enemies,

with marketing and advertising.

The more they designed,

the more not-so-healthy products
came on the market.

However, we should also
acknowledge design for what happened.

In fact, design managed
to create identities,

something we have brought over time;

to create a simpler, more mobile,
efficient, effective life

and also to give us icons,

that have become the icons
of the design culture.

Sure, there are also interesting,
splendid, cute projects

that are not really useful in daily life.

For example, these are office objects

to conveniently eat a snack at the office.

If it is true that food design is not new,

or the application of design
in the agri-business is not new,

it also became true, much more recently,

that the interest of design
turned to the agribusiness world.

What does it mean?

It is more recent, in fact:

it dawned at the onset,
or slightly after food studies.

Food studies are academic studies on food.

Food Studies didn’t start in Italy:

they started in the US
at the end of the 90s.

People started asking,
Where does my food come from?

Is it healthy, sustainable?
What will be the food of the future?

All of these questions required responses,

and academics must respond,
and find the answers,

analyze the system and find the solutions.

Because in 2018, we still live in a world

where people are dying from too much food
and others for lack of food.

We know how to create sustainable systems

and we have fancy technology
that can make this all possible,

but we don’t do it!

And with all that waste,

we could feed and give resources
three to four times over

to all the people in need.

I am not only talking about Africa.

So there is a real interest
from the food world to use design

because it can offer solutions.

[Food needs Design]

This is what design is asked to provide:
solutions to solve the problems.

Fact is, food design is nothing new,
but the interest has changed.

And I experienced it firsthand.

I even have a personal anectode

that I shouldn’t share, but I will anyway.

In 2012, I had just finished
my PhD studies

on the use of new technologies
in the agri-food sector

to see how new technologies

could change our way of eating.

And how design could help the process.

I went to a conference in New York

where I presented
the results of my research.

There were only ten people,
maximum, in the audience

and left before the end of my speech,

while muttering,
to the best of my understanding,

"Let's hope the world this Italian lady
refers to will never happen…"

One even came to say,

"I had so much fun".

So that was the end of the presentation.

I have to say,
I left the venue frustrated.

I thought, maybe I should forget this,

no one will ever care
about this design thing.

So for three years, I never talked design

at food studies conferences.

Inspired by the 2015 Expo, in Milan,

food systems operators

gained back confidence
in what they were doing.

I was invited again
to speak at a conference in the US

about "Creativity and Food".

I decided to join, and I did something
I was not supposed to:

I changed the date on the first slide

then used my previous material
of the 2012 presentation.

There were 50 more people,
all of whom stayed till the end,

with applause, questions - a big success.

I shared this with some -
not everyone, not to upset them.

But anyway, I told them,

"This is actually not my speech!

You think I’m anticipating you
the food of the future:

it's not, this is the past.

I presented it in 2012,
and it was already the past back then.

This is just the proof
that your interest in design has changed.

You are more interested
in what I’m presenting today

because you are now finding
new solutions in it.

You have changed your point of view,

I'm not saying anything new.

For me this was very important.

In fact, since 2014,

many conferences were held
on food, design and their applications.

We have spread the message
to professors, teachers

and even ordinary people,

because these events, these conferences,
were open to the general public

and people were really interested
in the subject of food design.

But - you know what?

We have not yet affected
those who make food,

the true actors of the agri-food chain.

Our contamination is still weak:

we haven't spread this message
to farmers, beekeepers, breeders,

restaurant owners,

food producers, food companies,
food industry, managers,

those involved in tourism,

mayors, agronomists,
food engineers, politicians -

sorry, I could not find
the politicians' playmobile,

so this is what's left.

The thing that attracts
everyone about design

is the concept of creativity.

Creativity is a simple concept.

This idea of creativity
came out with a popular term now:

“design thinking”.

Design thinking means:

“I want to learn
how to think like a designer”.

What do I mean?

I like a lot this scene of Big Hero 6,
a fantastic animated movie:

if you haven’t seen it, I recommend it.

The older brother
tells his little brother,

who is a genius, but is stuck
in his thought process,

"Look at things from a different angle,
and you will get an idea".

Look at the scenarios
with a different perspective.

This is how to think like a designer.

And although it is true that everyone,
more or less, can be creative,

it is also true we're not all designers.

Ezio Manzini, a great
Italian design theorist, said:

"Everybody knows how to sing,
some can play music,

but not everybody is a director".

So, who is a designer?

Designers are people
who channel their intuitions.

The difference between
intuitions and design

is that the designer uses intuition
to help guide the design.

A designer is this creative person
who helps other people become creative,

the customers they design for,

and the people who work for him.

A designer is the person

who can become a real change-maker,

and help others to become change-makers.

So let's imagine a designer

who, starting from simple rituals,

as the designer doesn’t invent,
but finds actual rituals,

and exalts them through new products.

From a simple ritual, like smelling food,

an idea like this may come out.

An application that tells you

this apple at the market is better
because it has a good smell.

What would change?

The market itself,

as we wouldn’t buy apples
simply for their beauty or low price,

but because they smell good.

This would bring people

to revive a skill that, sadly,
we are all losing:

"How food does smell like?"

This would change the economy,
of the food market,

the experiential concept,
and the aesthetics of food.

Design is always systemic,
it is always transdisciplinary.

What do I mean?

It brings together
disciplines and competences,

creates an environment
where they contaminate each other.

Design uses empathy
and cognitive flexibility

to help people speak to each other.

And we need design, we really need design,

especially since the UN stated

that by 2030, these 17 goals
must be reached

and food is a transversal element.

If we do not begin to work together
in a systemic manner,

they will be hard to reach.

Design is a tool that
we can use for this purpose.

And believe me, in future jobs,
there will be much more design.

In the food sector, in particular.

This is Zoe, my daughter,
now five years old,

from the same video
that I showed you earlier,

when she was two and a half.

Her favorite toy

is a camera that I got for her,

thinking it was a regular
press-and-shoot system.

Instead, inside there is an app
that allows the subject of the photo

to become a character in a story.

She can then add music and words,

and create stories with it.

It came with no instructions' manual

and I am certainly not the person
who taught her how to use it.

She has used this object
since she has been using for three years

without getting tired of it,

enhancing her creativity.

My daughter is a
so-called "digital native",

as she was born into a world
where technologies are easy for her,

because it is part of the culture
she was kind of born with.

It comes natural to her

to acquire tech knowledge, behaviours.

My wish is for he
to become a sustainable native

and live in a world
of sustainable natives.

What do I mean?

To be born and grow in a world

where all the services, systems
and products we have

allow us to easily live
a sustainable, healthy life.

I imagine a people-friendly city,
places for food education,

a house that tells me about food

and its own life cycle
that I have to respect,

industrial products

that take the environment
into account and respect it.

John Tackara, a theorist of design, said:

if we succeed, one day,

to make biodiversity and sustainability
as sexy and as interesting

as the digital world is today for us all,

we will be on the right path.

So maybe here is the answer:
"Why does food need design?'

Design can create and recreate
new relationships between us and our food.

Thanks.

(Applause)