Month: August 2012

Food Font at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC

Food Font at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC

The Food Font Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC went well yesterday.  Lots of people stopped by and made letters out of peppers from Peregrine Farm.   There were two types of peppers – purple bells and cubanelles.

We had a short break when a rainstorm came through, when everyone went under the overhang area of Carrboro to stay dry.  Soon the rain stopped, the jazz band started up again, and we set up the alphabet area and continued making the Weaver Street – Peregrine Farm Pepper alphabet.  Thanks to everyone that came out for the event.

Pictures from the event as well as the images of the alphabet can be seen on the Flickr site.
Below are slideshows from the event.  (NOTE: if you are on some mobile devices the slideshows will not show up since they are made with Flash so view the pictures from the Flickr site.)

Links:

Weaver Street Market – Food Font Event

Peregrine Farm – Website

Food Font Article in the Herald Sun

An article about Food Font was written by Cliff Bellamy and was printed in the Herald Sun newspaper.  The article is called Playing With Food-  With a Purpose and talks about the inspiration behind Food Font, the project itself, and about past projects.  .  You can read it on the Herald Sun website.

Links:

Food With a Purpose – www.heraldsun.com

 

 

Open Data Cooking Workshop:  a Mix of Food and Data

Open Data Cooking Workshop: a Mix of Food and Data

What would a fish soup taste like if the recipe was based on publicly available local fishing data?  What a pizza would be like if it was based on the population of Helsinki?  What are the principles of local cuisine and how can this be represented?

One way to think about a recipe is that it is comprised of food and data. In the Open Data Cooking Workshop organized with Pixelache in Helsinki in September, the relationship of food and data is going a bit farther. The workshop explores how to represent information and data related to culinary topics.  How can local food be represented in its qualities of color, form, texture, smell, taste, nutrition, and origin?  In the workshop participants will have the opportunity to translate data in concrete, as well as more abstract methods.  This includes using the senses, numbers, descriptions, language, and other means.

The workshop is described as a “collaborative research experience, blurring the boundaries between teachers and participants as well as data and food.”   At the end of the workshop, a public event with a “data menu” will be tasted and documetation will be done in the form of a online cookbook.

The workshop is produced by Pixelache and organized by  prozessagenten based studio  that researches and initates processes by art and design), the OK Festival, Marc Aulum (creative chef and owner of the restaurant Qulma), and Moritz Stefaner and Miska Knapek, who do research and work in information visualization.

Image Source:
www.flickr.com/photos/suviko/
www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/open-data-cooking-workshop/

www.qulma.fi/

Links:
www.pixelache.ac/helsinki/open-data-cooking-workshop/

prozessagenten.org/

knapek.org/

www.qulma.fi/

okfestival.org/

 

 

prozessagenten

Food Font Farmers Market Booth – Up and Running

Food Font Farmers Market Booth – Up and Running

This past weekend we setup the Food Font Booth for the first time at the Elmwood-Bidwell farmer’s market in Buffalo, NY.

The setup worked well since it protected us from the light rain and sun, provided enough room for two people to make letters at the same time, and had enough space for a crowd to gather to watch and join in the activity.

Food Font will be at the Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC next Sunday April 5th from 11 am – 1pm.  Look for our setup!

Here is a slideshow of the Food Font setup from the Flickr site.

Blueberries, Okra, and Buffalo!

Blueberries, Okra, and Buffalo!

Food Font had its first farmer market event at the  Elmwood-Bidwell Market in Buffalo, NY.  People at the market made a food alphabet out of food from local farms.  The food that was used included peaches from Bozard’s Farm; squash, onions, tomatoes, beans: from Native Offerings Farm; cucumbers, okra from Winter Farms and blueberries from Erdle farm.

Before the end of the event the entire list of letters, numbers, and characters got done.   People still stopped by to make letters – so we ended up with some extra Q’s and A’s.  (and maybe some extra P’s) The alphabet shows the mood of the event – upbeat, creative, and curious.  There are some really elegant letters and numbers that were made.  Some people really took some time in crafting a letter, carefully adjusting blueberries, okra, or picking out the right green bean.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the event!  Pictures from the event are up on the Food Font Photo page and also on Flickr.  The Elmwood-Bidwell food alphabet will eventually be edited and put into the Food Font interactive design tool when built.

This upcoming weekend Food Font will be at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC where people will be making a Food Font out of peppers from a local farm.

One last update is that the resources on the Food Font website have been updated.  Directions for making a food font, uploading your pictures, and promotional materials are all on the site to help you make a food alphabet that you can submit to the site.  What food would you like to write with?