Brief:
Design a product, system or service which uses sustainable food and farming to help improve people's health or wellbeing.
Background:
* Food and farming are inextricably linked with our health and wellbeing. This goes beyond simply the nutritional value of the food we consume, it extends from the ways in which we farm and process food right through to the ways we prepare and consume it.
* The relationship between our health and the food we eat is complex. Despite people in wealthy countries having access to a wide choice of food products, diet-related ill health has risen in recent years. In the UK diabetes is estimated to have doubled since 2000, and the healthcare bill from an overweight and obese population is estimated as £16bn, more than 10 percent of NHS spending.
* Food and farming rely on the natural environment, however practices in food and farming are negatively impacting on the long-term sustainability of this environment. Farming accounts for 30 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions and 70 percent of fresh water use. Almost a third of the world’s arable soils have been lost to erosion and pollution over the last 40 years. Examples like these not only threaten our planetary support systems but also affect food security for people across the world.
* Food and farming are embedded within cultures and communities. They are signifiers of identity and an important part of social relationships. These cultural notions of food and farming are also important influences on our health and wellbeing. Access to food is not equally distributed in society. As a proportion of UK household income, the poorest spend twice as much on food at home as the richest, and an estimated 8.4 million British people are food insecure. Food bank usage has risen, with 591,000 people accessing food banks in 2016. What about the health and wellbeing of the people involved in food and farming? Many farmers around the world suffer from isolation, stress and the effects of low incomes.
* Sustainable food and farming means a system of food production and consumption which is both good for the environment and good for people. To achieve this, we need to look at the food and farming systems holistically.
* Food and farming are inextricably linked with our health and wellbeing. This goes beyond simply the nutritional value of the food we consume, it extends from the ways in which we farm and process food right through to the ways we prepare and consume it.
* The relationship between our health and the food we eat is complex. Despite people in wealthy countries having access to a wide choice of food products, diet-related ill health has risen in recent years. In the UK diabetes is estimated to have doubled since 2000, and the healthcare bill from an overweight and obese population is estimated as £16bn, more than 10 percent of NHS spending.
* Food and farming rely on the natural environment, however practices in food and farming are negatively impacting on the long-term sustainability of this environment. Farming accounts for 30 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions and 70 percent of fresh water use. Almost a third of the world’s arable soils have been lost to erosion and pollution over the last 40 years. Examples like these not only threaten our planetary support systems but also affect food security for people across the world.
* Food and farming are embedded within cultures and communities. They are signifiers of identity and an important part of social relationships. These cultural notions of food and farming are also important influences on our health and wellbeing. Access to food is not equally distributed in society. As a proportion of UK household income, the poorest spend twice as much on food at home as the richest, and an estimated 8.4 million British people are food insecure. Food bank usage has risen, with 591,000 people accessing food banks in 2016. What about the health and wellbeing of the people involved in food and farming? Many farmers around the world suffer from isolation, stress and the effects of low incomes.
* Sustainable food and farming means a system of food production and consumption which is both good for the environment and good for people. To achieve this, we need to look at the food and farming systems holistically.
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