Food & water

the wasted resources in your food

[This installation was fully constructed, but unfortunately the exhibit was canceled. It was set to open on March 19, 2020 in New York City for Circular City Week]

What if we could see the hidden water in our food production?

About

Research by Dutch Professor Arjen Y. Hoekstra, the Twente Water Centre, and University of Twente defines the water a commodity indirectly requires for its production as ‘virtual water.’

While this water is not seen or experienced by a consumer, it certainly isn’t virtual.

Food and Water makes Hoekstra’s virtual water real, allowing visitors to physically experience the relationship between the food they eat and the water necessary to produce it. A 1/4 pound hamburger, for example, is only a few inches in scale. In terms of a volumetric water footprint, however, this quarter pound patty can be represented by a four foot cube.

And although meat is often the culprit of resource requirements for production, an average chocolate bar takes more water than a chicken breast to be produced. The volumetric difference between these items we’re so intimately acquainted with and the volume of water necessary to produce it creates an important connection between our food and its true value.

This project was was the product of a collaboration with Garrett Benisch for our studio, Sum.

materiality

The volumes in this installation are made of upcycled denim. This material is light, easy to work with, and blue in color. It is natural, non-toxic, and is a part of a circular economy.