Food Waste is Bananas

Four trailblazing food transformation experts come together for a passionate discussion about how to source, prep, and eat sustainably in the face of the climate emergency, and how to scrutinize food waste as an opportunity for fresh creative responses, education and play. How can food waste be thoughtfully transformed both in the home and in industry? How can generational know-how infiltrate the mainstream and make food waste transformation the norm, rather than the exception? And what to do about the very real costs of food and labour? In this panel event, the audience will be encouraged to rethink their relationship with food, packaging and waste through the lens of delicious and innovative zero waste experiments. Afterwards, stick around to eat peels and rinds, delve into the world of edible cups, and dive into the possibilities of seaweed based bioplasics.  

Join food journalist and hospitality expert Dani Valent for this spirited evening, with a panel of dynamic industry veterans who live and breathe the realities, possibilities and economics of food transformation: Helen Addison-Smith, chef and food waste researcher; Joost Bakker, designer of projects and products that re-imagine sustainability; Laura Boulton, chef, educator, and root-to-stalk ethicist; and artist and researcher Jessie French, who navigates the intersection of art, ecology and technology amidst the climate crisis. 

Our panel will explore the history of food consumption and offer insights that will encourage us to rethink excess food and packaging as a design challenge rather than as waste. 

This event is presented by RMIT Culture in partnership with ‘Melbourne Conversations’  

Playing Ground

This exhibition invites people of all ages to imagine these changes by playing with a model landscape comprised of sand and an augmented reality display. 

As participants sculpt the sand, and the landform it represents, the visualisation reveals how water would flow and plants would grow across the hypothetical landscape. A number of prompts are provided that ask participants to experiment with the relationships between topography, ecology, hydrology, and sustainability. 

This event runs on a drop-in basis during the listed timeslots and participants are welcome to stay for as long, or as short, as their interest.

Presented by The Capitol and RMIT University School of Architecture & Urban Design as part of Melbourne Design Week 2021, an initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the NGV.