V & A - FOOD: Bigger than the Plate
Hello there!
It's probably safe to say that I'm pretty obsessed with food and I love learning more about it day by day, whether that's the science behind food or gastronomy. When I heard that there was going to be a food exhibition at the V&A I was very intrigued to go since I hadn't seen an exhibition quite like it. It was certainly an eye-opener and made me think about our relationship with food in so many different ways. The exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate is open until the end of October 2019*. These are my thoughts on the exhibition, enjoy!
Compost:
Going into the exhibition I wasn't quite sure what to expect but the compost section was much more interesting that I thought it was going to be. It has displays about preventing waste and what you can do with waste products to put them to use.
For example, something I found amazing, was that a large portion of the biomass of coffee is wasted but you can use it to add nutrients to soil. This is successful in growing mushrooms as shown in the exhibition.
Other examples were that you can use corn husks to create flooring, as done in places like Mexico which grow a variety of different types of corn.
What stood out to me the most was that there is so much you can do with food waste. There was even glasses frames made up of coffee ground waste. It just shows that we need to move away from a "throw away culture" where we only use parts of the product or food and throw the rest away.
Trading:
It's probably safe to say that I'm pretty obsessed with food and I love learning more about it day by day, whether that's the science behind food or gastronomy. When I heard that there was going to be a food exhibition at the V&A I was very intrigued to go since I hadn't seen an exhibition quite like it. It was certainly an eye-opener and made me think about our relationship with food in so many different ways. The exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate is open until the end of October 2019*. These are my thoughts on the exhibition, enjoy!My Thoughts: V & A - FOOD: Bigger than the Plate
The exhibition is fairly small and took me about an hour to look around but there is still plenty to see and read about as you go through the exhibition. They organised the exhibition into four parts: Compost, Farming, Trading and Eating so I have discussed my thoughts on each one in a bit more detail below.
Going into the exhibition I wasn't quite sure what to expect but the compost section was much more interesting that I thought it was going to be. It has displays about preventing waste and what you can do with waste products to put them to use.For example, something I found amazing, was that a large portion of the biomass of coffee is wasted but you can use it to add nutrients to soil. This is successful in growing mushrooms as shown in the exhibition.
Other examples were that you can use corn husks to create flooring, as done in places like Mexico which grow a variety of different types of corn.What stood out to me the most was that there is so much you can do with food waste. There was even glasses frames made up of coffee ground waste. It just shows that we need to move away from a "throw away culture" where we only use parts of the product or food and throw the rest away.
Farming:
The next section of the exhibition focuses more on the farming aspect of gastronomy. One display which was interesting was a variety of fruit maps of London created by Fallen Fruit which shows where different fruits grow and can be picked across London. It really emphasised how important seasonality is when choosing fruit and vegetables.
There were parts of the exhibition that showed technological changes that have developed in agriculture and the possibility of combining rural and urban living in the future.
There is an area with short videos about farming techniques but I would say that it might be a bit too sensitive to some vegetarians and vegans since it shows how meat is prepared, though to some people it is important to know where their food is coming from.
The trading section of the exhibition is fairly short but it includes early food adverts, such as Bovril, and shows how food is advertised to the consumer. They had a raw milk vending machine that would normally produce milk that isn't pasteurised, which is illegal in the UK so not in use anymore.
Eating:
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| The product they made me |
By far my favourite section of the exhibition was the "Eating" section. It covered various aspects of food, including how a table can be laid with different items to aid eating. There was also samples of cheeses that were grown using human bacteria from famous people. This was a little weird but fascinating. The most interesting section was the interactive part at the end of the exhibition ran by a company called LOCI Food Lab. You fill in what three characteristics you think make a good food product from a list on a tablet and they make you a small sample based on your decision. Out of interest more than anything, I chose "nutritious", "delicious" and "vegan". The final product contained a chia seed cracker, mushrooms, tomato relish, mycoprotein, crisped barley and Indian salad mix on top. For something so small, about the size of a 50p, it had a lot of flavour!
Final Thoughts:
Overall, FOOD: Bigger than the Plate was an interesting and thought-provoking exhibition. It really makes you think about what your throwing away and how it could be put to use instead. It also shows how farming techniques are developing with our changing culture. If you're interested in gastronomy, an ultimate foodie, or even if you need a bit of inspiration on how to reduce your food waste then take a visit!
*This is not a sponsored blog post and all opinions are entirely of my own. However, if you do want to visit FOOD: Bigger than the Plate there is a link below:
https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/food-bigger-than-the-plate
Final Thoughts:
Overall, FOOD: Bigger than the Plate was an interesting and thought-provoking exhibition. It really makes you think about what your throwing away and how it could be put to use instead. It also shows how farming techniques are developing with our changing culture. If you're interested in gastronomy, an ultimate foodie, or even if you need a bit of inspiration on how to reduce your food waste then take a visit!
https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/food-bigger-than-the-plate
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