+ THE COUNCIL OF FOODS

Reimaging Food System Dialogues

The Council of Foods is an interactive website built to create a space to discuss the food system with food representing AI avatars.

INNOVATION RELEVANCE

Knowledge gaps are a significant barrier in addressing food system challenges. Amongst other people active in the field, policymakers sometimes lack comprehensive understanding of food system complexities, leading to ineffective or counterproductive policies. Therefore, policymaker education is a crucial aspect of addressing food system challenges. Addressing this gap often involves briefings, workshops, field visits or stakeholder dialogues. Even though all of this is important, continuous learning tailored for policymakers on food system topics is often overlooked, yet important for keeping decision-makers informed and up-to-date. Currently, such an environment does not seem to exist. Existing platforms tend to be either broader in scope (covering general environmental or agricultural issues) or more specialized (focusing on specific aspects like nutrition or food safety). A dedicated, comprehensive platform for policymakers that covers aspects of food systems could be of aid. Creating a more comprehensive, policymaker-focused platform could significantly enhance the ability of decision-makers to address complex food system challenges effectively.

The prototype Council of Foods demonstrates technological readiness for personalized learning experiences through AI and machine learning, with council members (in this case prompted foods) potentially acting as tutors, as discussion partners, as criticizers or as best practice experts in dialogue with individual policy makers or groups of policy makers. With the feature of notetaking and reporting already built in, the knowledge produced and shared during the sessions can easily be shared, stored or referred to in draft texts, mails or otherwise by the policy maker using the platform.

WHAT DOES IT DO

The current version is well developed, including a variety of council members (10) and curated food system topics (5). However, the system is configured such that council members can be added or changed at any time, and the topics can be chosen on the spot. It is also already built in that humans interact with the council during council meetings or sessions. Preparing modules with council member speeches or preparing sessions / workgroups on specific topics and with specific goals for the policy maker can easily be done. The system is ready for this.

ART RELEVANCE

Nonhuman Nonsense ‘s Council of Foods creates a digital political arena where foods discuss our broken food system. This interactive artwork uses AI to give voice to ten diverse food items, representing various production methods and ethical standpoints. Human participants engage in discussions, influencing the dialogue’s direction. The project illuminates the complex eco-social impacts of our food choices, typically obscured by marketing and low prices. By anthropomorphizing foods, it challenges us to reconsider our relationship with what we eat. The council generates policy recommendations, bridging artistic exploration with potential real-world impact, and offering a unique, accessible entry point into complex food system debates.

TEAM

Artist: Nonhuman Nonsense 

Studio: SOS

Art-driven innovation: In4Art

Science: KU Leuven

The HungryEcoCities project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101069990.