Kbaumlier

Author: Kbaumlier

Kristen Baumlier’s work spans the full spectrum of interdisciplinary media, including performance, interactive installation, video and audio works.

Market Makeover – An Online toolkit for Making Healthy Changes in Corner Stores

Posted on April 2, 2013April 10, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Places that do not have much healthy food available, often called food deserts, are all over the US, in urban and rural areas. Sometimes they exist in places that ironically used to grow food, and are usually in low-income communities. In these locations, there is food to eat, but it’s not usually healthy food. Often there are few supermarkets, and there is a lot of land in between them. In these areas, junk food and fast food become the most available food. Individuals who live in food deserts often are overfed but undernourished, prone to overweight, obesity, diabetes and chronic illnesses.

In various cities in the U.S., various groups are partnering with corner stores to work to get the stores to carry healthier food choices. A group from L.A., called Market Makeover, who has worked to do makeovers at over three stores, has create a website with resources to help any group try to plan, partner, and work to create a “market makeover” in any city.

The project was created as part of the South L.A. Healthy Eating Active Community Initiative (HEAC), local high school students, and Public Matters. The groups worked together to transform 3 stores and out of the experience they have compiled a combination of helpful realworld information and creative, innovative strategies. The resoruces are available in multiple presentation formats including downloadable pdfs, videos, and other information.

One main message of the group is that there is not one single quick fix to get fresh food into neighborhoods that don’t have it. In the planning area on the site, there are resources that include a community resource mapping, a food assessment worksheet, food fact sheets, and marketing materials. In the During Area, there are materials to support developing strategies for different retail stores, information about transitioning a store, and also insights and advice from groups that have worked on doing a Market Makeover.

The site also has YUMTV, a video channel that has videos that use humor to present issues about food and health, and food challenges called, “So You Think You Can Cook?” All the videos, materials, and information can be seen on the Market Makeover website.
Image Source:
marketmakeovers.org
Links:

marketmakeovers.org

Save Food From The Refrigerator

Posted on March 31, 2013April 1, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Before the invention of the refrigerator, foods were stored in low-tech ways to store food. Refrigerators have been widely in use for less than 100 years, and have become the main way that most of us store our food. Many of the foods in the fridge could last as long and even taste better if they were not in the fridge.

Korean designer Jihyun Ryou, has developed a series of storage designs that uses traditional techniques of storing food that she learned from her grandmother and other elderly people in the community. On her site she writes, “We hand over the responsibility of taking care of food to the technology, the refrigerator. We don’t observe the food any more and we don’t understand how to treat it.”

One unit called The Verticality of Root Vegetables is a shelf/container made of Maplewood treated with beeswax, which houses two containers filled with sand. Carrots, green onions, and other root vegetables can be stored easily in a vertical position, which allows the organism to save energy and remain fresh for a longer time. This shelf and sand gives a place for them to stand easily and the sand helps to keep the proper humidity.

Another piece, called the Symbiosis of Potato + Apple is another wooden unit that has a lower space for potatoes, that are kept in the dark, and a space above for apples to be stored. The apples emit ethylene gas, which prevents the potatoes from sprouting.

Other storage units include ways to store spices, ways to store eggs so they can breathe, and ways to store vegetables that will stay fresh longer when at room temperature.

Ryou’s project aims to re-introduce and re-evaluate traditional oral knowledge of food, and to connect us back to the relationships of food that exist. More of her designs, and a book about the project can be seen on her website.

Image Source:
www.savefoodfromthefridge.com

Links:

www.savefoodfromthefridge.com/

SOUP: Mandy Barker’s Images of Ocean Plastic Debris

Posted on March 27, 2013April 1, 2013 by Kbaumlier

The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” is a floating expanse of waste and debris in the Pacific Ocean that covers an area twice the size of the continental U.S. It is comprised of mostly plastic debris that is suspended in the sea. Designer and photographer Mandy Barker has created a series of images called SOUP which is made of plastic debris collected from the beaches around the world, which presents a unique view of what it would be like to swim through garbage in the sea.

To make the images, she photographed pieces of plastic and beach trash in clusters that she positioned and grouped by color or value. The pieces are photographed on black velvet, and the debris appears to be deep in the sea with a current of water creating the formation as it floats. Each image’s description lists the “ingredients” which might say for example, “plastic oceanic debris affected by the chewing and attempted ingestion by animals. Includes a toothpaste tube. Additives: teeth from animals.”

The images were inspired by Chris Jordan, who created a well-known photograph of the plastic pieces that were found inside albatross chicks after they died. Barker’s images have been featured on many websites and blog this year, and you can see the on her website.

Image Source:
mandy-barker.com

Links:

mandy-barker.com

Bicycled: A Bike Made of Junkyard Cars

Posted on March 25, 2013April 1, 2013 by Kbaumlier

Bicycled is a upcyling project where the frame of a bike is made out of recycled materials that come from cars from the junkyard. Lola Madrid, who is behind the project strips cars of parts such as the transmission belt, upholstery materials, and door handles and uses them to make a new bike.

Which parts are used for what purpose? The bike chain is made out of the transmission belt, the seat and handlebars are made from seat upholstery, the seat post clamp is made out of a door handle, and the bike’s safety reflective lights are made from the turn signal reflectors on the car. Each bike is unique, and he is working on developing a line of bikes.

You can watch the Bicycled video online which shows Madrid in the process of making the bikes, and contact him via the website to get your name on the list for a bike.

Image Source:
bicycledbikes.com/

Links:

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wOB-KciTjvo

bicycledbikes.com/

Host a Neighborday Celebration on April 27th

Posted on March 22, 2013March 24, 2013 by Kbaumlier

How well do you know your neighbors? I know some of my neighbors first names, what cars they drive, and what kind of dog they have. I don’t know where anyone works, what people care about, or really much more than what I see when I walk past their yards.

Today with the increase of “social” networking tools, it makes it easier to not do in person contact with others around us.

GOOD is a global community of people and organizations working towards individual and collective progress. On the Good.is neighboring webpage it reads, “What might we be missing? Collaborators, friends, emergency contacts, sugar? What does this mean for society?

As a kickoff to improve cities and communities, the GOOD community is starting by reconnecting neighborhoods. On April 27, anyone can host a Neighborday party (either big or small) that might be a barbeque, having your front door open, or a neighborhood event. The goal is for one thousand small-scale gatherings around the world to celebrate “neighboring.”

I recently picked up the recent issue of GOOD magazine, and there is a poster in it designed by Frnk Chimero that is meant to be posted on your door on Neighborday – to let your neighbors know that you are participating.

If you want to get involved, you can go to the good.is neighboring page, and sign up to host a Neighborday on April 27. You can get information about the event, and also get inspiration for the day.

Image Source:
www.good.is/neighboring

Links: