Comfort Food - Comfortable for Who? an Exploration of Genuine Comfort Food Through Design

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Bachelor’s Thesis Spring 2020

Comfort Food - Comfortable for who? An Exploration of Genuine Comfort Food Through Design.

Author: Una Hallgrímsdóttir Supervisor: Åsa Ståhl, Eric Snodgrass, Anna-Karin Arvidsson Examiner: Mathilda Tham Term: VT20 Subject: Design+Change Level: Bachelor Course code: 2DI67E BFA Thesis Project Una Hallgrímsdóttir

Comfort Food - Comfortable for Who? An Exploration of Genuine Comfort Food Through Design.

Design + Change Linnæus University Växjö, Sweden Spring 2020 Table of Contents

Collaboration Iteration #1 13 Dinner Intervention Event 13 Comfort Food, Comfortable for who? 14 Entry Point 4 Genuine Comfort Menu 15 Why Should We Change Our Meal Experience & Documentation 17 Habits of Eating Animals? 4 A Meat Eating Culture 4 Collaboration Iteration #2 23 New Direction: From Public to Personal 23 The Psychology of Meat 5 Participants & Interviews 23 The invisibility of Carnism 5 Co-Design Cooking Sessions 25 Meat and Psychic Numbing 6 Outcome 28

The Patriarchal Foundation of Meat 7 Framing Design Explorations 31 Why is Feminism Important in Purpose & Outreach 31 Tackling the Meat-Eating Norm? 7 Format & Exhibition 31 Meat and Masculinity 7 Conclusion 33 Cooking as Interventionist Design 8 Why Cooking is Design Practice 8 References 34 Intervening at the Level of Habit 9 Appendix 35 Process: Designing Comfort Food 10 Exhibition 35 Explorative Co-Design Workshop 10 Why Comfort Food? 12 Acknowledgments 41

3 Entry Point

Why should we change our habits of eating animals? The need to eliminate the consumption of animal As eating is one of the fundamental aspects of foods from people’s diets in the industrialized human life, our learned habits of eating become global north has become critical. We are the peo- integrated parts of our own identities, these habits ple consuming the greatest amounts of animals are our social roots and emotional anchors. There- per capita while being the people in the privileged for to no surprise people are most often very chal- position to choose our diets. The animal agricul- lenged by the idea of drastically changing their ture industry is responsible for extreme environ- eating habits, it might feel like having to give up a mental devastation with further social impact and part of yourself, or loose something important to the obvious affect of killing and torturing millions you, and that is not typically something people are of innocent animals. inclined to do.

This project addresses the urgent need to change In my process I investigate why these habits are the destructive normative eating habits as an effort so hard to beat and how to most effectively per- to minimise the negative social and environmen- suade people to change them. Through exploring tal impact of our food consumption. Aiming to the medium of food and cooking as design prac- critically explore the habit of consuming animal tice, I want to understand the factors essential to products, and how to best implement a change in creating a comforting eating experience, and how such behaviour through design. to design new plant-based eating habits while maintaining those essential factors. A truly com- A Meat Eating Culture forting eating experience for humans, the planet My initial research has led me to understand and all it’s species. the complexity of reasons behind our persistent meat-eating culture. The consumption of certain non-human animals is a tradition, a norm, a be- Research Question: haviour deeply rooted in our social construct. As How can we inspire and encourage a with all such norms these eating habits are recog- nisably a learnt behaviour, a behaviour taught to change in eating habits through us by our families, formed by our cultural context design, serving genuine comfort with and place of upbringing, and most commonly these initial learnt behaviours become habits that and beyond human-only needs? follow us throughout our life. 4 The Psychology of Meat

The invisibility of Carnism Carnism is the shared set of beliefs that portray the consumption of animals as ethical behaviour, as opposed to veganism. The term was coined by psychologist Melanie Joy in 2001. The term is closely linked to the term speciesism, coined by Richard Ryder in 1970, speciesism being the ethos that enables carnism. Speciesism is the system in which we live which values beings based “Carnism is a largely invisible on the group of species the belong to. Typical- ideology, but vegetarians potentially ly prioritising and favouring some species like reduce this invisibility and threaten chimpanzees or dogs, while discriminating against the prevailing belief system that other species like pigs or rats. Speciesism allows encourages meat consumption. people to consider it ethical to consume some Vegetarians not only encourage animals while loving others and thereby supports carnism as a persistent ideology. reminders of dissonance, they also may threaten to make it harder to The psychological aspect to meat-eating is in- alleviate the dissonance and to teresting to me, especially this concept of how morally disengage from the harm people simultaneously love and care for animals inflicted upon animals used for food.” while also eating them, dubbed the “meat-para- (Rothgerber, 2019) dox”. A popular psychological explanation to this paradox is cognitive dissonance theory, specifical- Melanie Joy elaborates on the invisibility of ly the case of “meat-related cognitive dissonance”, Carnism in her book Why we Love Dogs, Eat Pigs where meat eaters effectively rationalise morally and Wear Cows, she claims that when an ideology problematic behaviour around meat consumption. is as firmly ingrained as Carnism, it is essential- Meat eaters use dissonance-reducing strategies to ly an invisible ideology (Joy, 2011). Due to it’s alleviate the affect of their contradicting beliefs, persistance and invisibility the consumption of an- for example avoidance and wilful ignorance. In imals is an engraved social norm which we rarely his paper on this matter, Hans Rothgerber brings question. Therefor I find it essential to address up the concept of “Carnism” (Joy, 2011) in rela- this invisibility in my design work, challenging tion to the idea of meat eaters’ seldom surfacing the carnist norm while being understanding of it’s need to identify as such: reach in social influence. 5 Meat and Psychic Numbing Going further on the psychological aspects of consuming animals it feels important to understand the methods of the carnist system in order to create change from within them. Psychic numbing is the psychological process which allows us to disconnect from an experience, by numbing our- selves. This otherwise beneficial coping mechanism is truly destructive when it is used as the primary tool of the carnist system. It is the phenomenon that enables violence against animals by distorting our perceptions of what goes on in order for us to eat them (Joy, 2011). Lettuce Cow: Challenging Perspectives — Paper When people eat meat and other animal products their true feelings about the animals are systematically numbed, through mechanisms like denial, justification, objectification, deindividual- ization and dissociation amongst others. Therefor in order to change behaviours within the carnist system, we need to understand these underlying factors and respect that peoples’ actions are based on these structures and not an individual’s bad intentions.

Do Appetizers Appetize Animal Consumption? — Raw Stoneware Clay

6 The Patriarchal Foundation of Meat

Why is feminism important in tackling the meat consuming norm? To further understand the foundations of our meat-eating culture it is interesting to compare the belief systems of carnism and patriarchy and similarly veganism and feminism. Due to the problematic invisibility of carnism it it impossible to change it without bringing it into light, similar to how early feminists had to bring forward and name the system of patriarchy in order to fight its Meat and Masculinity persistance. In The Sexual Politics of Meat Adams suggests that the beginning of patriarchy is closely linked The correlation between these belief systems or to the beginning of meat consumption, as the ideologies is interesting to me. The values shared human species started hunting animals it was a amongst vegan and feminist ideologies could in- task for the males of the group, while the females clude care, compassion and equity, while values of were gatherers and caretakers, this might very carnist and patriarchal ideologies are more likely well have been the point where men first gained to include problematic terms like oppression, mor- power within the group, as their hunting actions al authority and control. In her book The Sexual brought back some capital, in the form of meat Politics of Meat Adams discusses the connection (Adams, 2010). This theory clearly depicts the of the two ideologies veganism and feminism beginning stages of the “meat as masculine” norm through various examples, all of which have pro- and reminds us that the way to go is to return to vided me with a valuable insight and inspiration to those traditionally feminine values of gathering consider questions of meat consumption in rela- and caretaking in order to redirect the current path tion to masculine norms in my project. of the growing meat-eating culture. 7 Cooking as Interventionist Design

Why Cooking Is Design Practice My interest in the problematic meat-eating culture cooking becomes a fundemental practice in ad- has always gone hand in hand with my love for justing to the new and different eating behaviour. cooking. In my process of going vegan, cooking was no doubt the most important tool in my I believe the practice of cooking is just as relevant transition. to design as other practices more typically associated with design, like ceramics or wood working. A few years ago I decided to stop eating meat, and Cooking is a practice of form-making, where the a few months later I gave up all animal derived material is produce, the tools are various kitchen products. The idea of vegetarianism and veganism equipment, the design methods are recipes and the had been slowly growing on me, almost beyond result is a meal of some sorts. The meal is a senso- my own awareness. In 2015, I invited my friends ry experience of flavours, textures and aesthetics, over for a goodbye dinner as I was about to move that has the potential to influence people’s feelings abroad, a couple of my friends were vegans so I and perspectives. decided to make the whole dinner spread vegan, as I felt it was nicer for everyone at the table to be able to enjoy the same food, despite the majority of guests being meat eaters, including myself. I did a bit of research on how to make alternatives to the typical meat and dairy-based foods I was used to, and eventually figured out a way to make chicken wings out of cauliflower and cheese dip out of potatoes, it was delicious.

This was the event that sparked my now endless curiosity for veganism and plant-based cooking. This experience drove me to change my own habits as I noticed that these fundamental aspects of food, in the cooking and eating experience, were just as comforting and valuable without the animal products. The food is quite obviously the factor that changes the most when making the change towards a more plant-based diet and therefor Food Ingredients as Design Material 8 Intervening at the Level of Habit “I also see that if you work with food, By using cooking as the main design practice in journey and not something that can magically you have a more political aspect to my process, I am intervening in the issue at the change overnight. I want to work in line with the your work because food is in itself a crucial level of habit, since what we eat is driv- movement Tobias Leenaert introduces in his book How to Create a Vegan World, his recommenda- more political material. If you make en by our habits and cooking is the practice that keeps those habits alive. By using cooking as tions for an effective strategy to impact veganism a wooden table, for example, you the primary method for design exploration in the is to stay openminded, empathetic, rational and can have a look at where the wood project I stay close to the root of the problematic positive towards those people you want to impact came from and whether the work- meat-eating culture, in order to encourage more (Leenaert, 2017). By using cooking as my design ers were treated right. However, I compelling behavioural change. practice, I will focus on sharing methods aimed think the political impact of food is to make a transition to a vegan diet smoother and more comfortable, and thereby more approachable so much greater than other materi- The vegan movement is known to use many different methods and tools to encourage and spread and apprehensible. als – in a way that makes food stand their values. Often using gruesome imagery from out. When we talk about food, we’re factory farms or slaughterhouses to show the hor- not just talking about one material. rifying meat, dairy and egg industries, a method Meat is very different from chocolate, which is definitely important in exposing the truth which is very different from bread or about the industry. Other methods focus more on vegetables.” (Marije Vogelzang) the positive sides of being vegan, like spreading photos of amazing vegan food or affirmative statistics of the positive climate impact of veganism. In line with “Eating Designer” Marije Vogelzang In my process I am determined to practice a I recognise the inherent political aspect of food friendly and pragmatic approach to veganism, an in relation to design. For this reason I find it so approach where I accept and work with the diffi- important that cooking is applied as intervention- culties of changing people’s eating habits, under- ist design practice, with the aim to bring about standing that changing this norm is a long change for the better. 9 Process: Designing Comfort Food

Explorative Co-Design Workshop Early on in the process I wanted to broaden the eating individually. We then collectively connect- scope of my topic of eating habits, I had my own ed and mapped the commonalities between our ideas on which elements of eating were import- food identities, creating a sketch of a common ant to people, but I found it important to experi- food culture within the group. The results pointed ence other people’s thoughts on the topic. I held out the common feeling of wanting to eat with a collaborative workshop on the topic of eating other people: the social element of food, as well as habits, together with a group of students from the a common gesture of using food as a comforting department, a discussion and mapping practice on tool. the topic, producing an overview of the group’s common eating culture. The results broadened my view of my topic and led me further in the process. I gained some in- I started out by asking the group to go around and sights into how emotionally and socially signifiant share their favourite food, followed by a round of the act of eating is to people. The concept of com- their least favourite foods. The foods named by fort food came up during the workshop, which I the participants were just as diverse in the favou- have since made a central part of my project. In rite and least favourite round. Favorites rang- the final iteration of my collaboration practice I ing from burgers to sourdough pancakes to rice also brought back the question of favourite foods, noodles and least favorites from pickles to sweet similarly to how it was used in this initial work- potatoes to parsley. From here we discussed the shop. reasons for why we have these personal preferences, the participants mentioned both cultural factors and more bodily and sensory factors. We rec- ognised the impact of how the eating habits in our upbringing have shaped our current eating habits.

Next up I asked the participants: “Who are you as a food consumer?”, I asked the participants to sketch out their relationship with food and

Explorative Co-Design Workshop: Mapping

10 Explorative Co-Design Workshop: Mapping

Explorative Co-Design Workshop: Discussion

11 Why comfort food? What is genuine comfort food? As an attempt to further explore the action of cooking as design practice with the goal to change Can comfort food be comfortable for mindsets and behaviours around consuming an- more than human beings? imals, I want to question the concept of comfort food. Comfort food is a term most common in the USA, but by definition it applies to food cultures Is there a way to overcome our around the globe, it describes a group of foods or somewhat selfish, conventional meals that are nostalgic, indulgent, convenient or eating habits by maintaining an provide physical comfort (Locher et al, 2005). The element of comfort while designing concept of comfort food is useful in my process alternative eating experiences? to narrow down my framework, it does describe a large group of foods but they all have in com- Going forward on the concept of comfort food, mon the strong emotional connection between the I want to go beyond it’s traditional definition, person and their food, as well as the food’s social twisting the perception of it and further broaden- significance to that person. When it comes to ad- ing the spectrum of beings it addresses. Generally vocating veganism I believe these emotional and we only care about human comfort when it comes social factors are crucial factors to keep in mind. to our food consumption, why don’t our ethical values cover our eating behaviour? 12 Collaboration: Iteration #1

Dinner Intervention Event As an attempt to explore comfort food in a social setting I had planned to throw a dinner event at a local restaurant here in Växjö, but due to the outbreak of COVID-19, I had to cancel the event. I will still aim to use my work on planning this event in another way in my project, despite the unfortunate loss of an element of social gathering, something I thought was crucial in exploring comfort food and behaviour change for my project. to the idea of doing some sort of vegan take-over at his restaurant. He told me the restaurant already I initiated this collaboration with Villa DeLuxe serves many vegan and vegetarian options on their because I knew I wanted to intervene in a restau- menu, and it is clear to me that Gustav cares about rant with a somewhat conventional menu, one the environment and knows he has a responsi- serving mainly animal products. Villa DeLuxe is a bility as a chef in that case. Still I imagine most restaurant run by the same people who run anoth- of Kafé DeLuxe and Villa DeLuxe’s customers are meat-eaters, and come to the restaurant for er restaurant in downtown Växjö, Kafé DeLuxe, Examples from Villa de luxe’s Menu a restaurant which is arguably one of the most their rather conventional European cuisine. Villa popular and wide known spots for lunch, dinner, DeLuxe has an ever-changing tasting menu where drinks and other cultural events in Växjö. I had a guests choose from either 5 or 8 courses, as well meeting and interview with the head chef of both as a more casual a wood-fired pizza menu. For restaurants, Gustav Hektor, he is known for being my event I was asked to follow their concept of a creative and experimental chef and he was open a 5-course menu, including one course which is pizza. 13 “Comfort Food — Comfortable for Who?” For my event I aimed to use the concept of com- Villa De Luxe x Vaxjö Earth Week 2020 fort food as my basis, asking the question: tuesday march 24th / 18.30 “Comfort food — Comfortable for who?” Chal- lenging our human centered food habits, where people rely on consuming animal bodies for their own comfort, while proposing an alternative that remains just as comforting for humans rtable fo while being comfortable for the environment, and fo r wh om o? non-human animals too. The concept of veganized c comfort food is nothing new, and many vegan restaurants around the world base their menus on such a concept, making vegan versions of popular animal based comfort foods. I am inspired by such restaurants, their impressive menu items and their drive to make vegan food attractive for those who don’t want to let go of the food they have a strong emotional connection to. Yet these restaurants tend to target the ‘already vegans’, the people who have given up on animal products, but are searching for alternative comfort foods. And most a five course dinner journey, often the people who still consume meat and other exploring truly comforting food, animal products are unaware of the potential of for you, the planet & all its beings! vegan foods to satisfy their emotional food related needs. For my project I choose to target those who have not been exposed to vegan comfort foods, don’t miss this One indulgent experience! Evening who possibly have a fear or misconception of find more information on the Only! what it really means to cut out animal products. Villa De Luxe Facebook page Special Menu: limited spots available: secure a table 275kr I want to target the people who are open to the on villadeluxe.se – “boka bord” idea of trying plant based foods, while still stick- ing to conventional eating habits. With the hope to open their eyes to following through with active change in behaviour. Event Poster: “Comfort Food — Comfortable for Who?”

14 The dinner event was to be more than a veganized 5-course meal. Taking inspiration from creative food performances and interventions, by adding other design elements to the experience to further enhance the message, for example elements of visual communication in the invitation, poster, menu and other printed material, participatory activities and music installations during the event. Examples of similar practices are the dutch EAT ART collective and The Eatelier, both of which adress questions of sustainability and the future of food through events and installations on the subject of eating. The EAT ART collective host- ed an event called “Scarcity Dinner” where they explored the social dynamics of sharing food in a scenario of scarcity, the concept makes the dinner guests active participants in the event, subjects in Genuine Comfort Menu a sort of dinner experiment (EAT ART collective, The first course was based on fish, an appetiser eliminating any cognitive dissonance applied in 2020). The Eatelier is a food design studio by made with carrot-based smoked salmon and sea- the context, while keeping a playful and humorous designer Katinka Versendaal, where projects often weed caviar. With the goal to replicate the charac- atmosphere in the room. involve a collaboration with a local chef, where teristics of fish and the ocean, in terms of flavour they join forces in translating research on the fu- texture and overall experience, asking the guests if The third course, ‘kebab pizza’, another very ture of food into a multi-course dinner experience, they consider fish to be comfort food. The second common comfort food in Sweden, and a great with the aim to start a conversation at the table course a take on the classic Swedish meatballs, combination of different food cultures. With this (Versendaal, 2019). These projects were useful in- with soy-meatballs, and the essential accompani- one I wanted to address the convenience element spirational references for my Villa DeLuxe dinner ments. During the second course the plan was to often associated with comfort food as well as the event, expanding my ideas on what sort of design ask one guest on each table to wear an accessory element of indulgence (Locher et al, 2005). Kebab practice could be involved in the event. resembling a pig or a bull, the animals addressed pizza, as any other pizza is a popular take-out I viewed the event as both an experiment for my in the course. As an attempt to eliminate the invis- food, making it a quick and easy meal, factors food-design practice as well as a research oppor- ibility commonly used to distance people’s per- most often not associated with vegan food. The tunity, where I could collect information and ception of their food from it’s reality, making the course represented the animals lambs and chick- experiences from the guests, to further enhance guests fully aware of the animal ingredients con- ens, as lamb-meat is a traditional kebab ingredient my understanding of persistent meat-eating habits. ventionally used to make meatballs, by becoming and chicken-meat commonly used in kebab here The concept for the menu was a 5-course experi- the animals themselves, or seeing their friend as in Sweden today. ence where each course represents an animal or the animal. By doing this I wanted to enhance the two who we conventionally eat as comfort food. guests’ understanding of their food’s origin, The fourth and fifth courses of the menu did not 15 address the consumption of slaughtered animals for meat, but the common use of animal products derived from the reproductive systems of animals; cow’s milk and hen’s eggs. The fourth course was Menu: to be a cheese platter displaying artisan cheese comfort for fish products from the Malmö based cashew cheese appetizer: sourdough toast, smoked carrot salmon, company, Casheury. As cheese is a food very of- oatcream, seaweed caviar ten associated with comfort, as it is indulgent and & chives even a bit addictive, I wanted to show the guests that such indulgent foods very much exist without the suffering of cows on dairy farms. The fifth and comfort for pigs & bulls last course, the dessert was a take on eggs, as eggs swedish meatballs: soy balls, are one of the most commonly used animal ingre- potatoes, mushroom oat gravy dients in desserts. I wanted to visualise the egg & lingon in this course as eggs are often a very invisible ingredient in desserts, masked with other flavours comfort for and forms, so for this course I wanted to make lambs & chicks sweet alternatives to the typical cakes, merengues kebab pizza : tomato sauce, and custards typically using eggs as a foundation, spiced soy kebab, garlic oat-ghurt, vegan cheese with a semi realistic boiled egg replica on the & pickled onions plate, once again enforcing the visibility of the animal on the plate. comfort for cows artisan cashew cheese platter : camembert, creamy lemon pepper, bluecheese, fruits & crackers

comfort for hens dessert: chocolate mudcake, vanilla pannacotta, havtorn curd & merengue

“Comfort Food - Comfortable for Who?” — Villa de luxe x Vaxjö Earth Week — March 24th 2020

Comfort Food Menu for Dinner Event 16 Meal Experience & Documentation Throughout the meal experience I wanted to encourage discussions on the topics of comfort food and the true discomfort caused by our conventional eating habits. Each course was to be introduced verbally to the guests by me, in which case I had the chance to interact with the guests and tell them my intentions. The music during the event was to be selected from a selection of vegan and vegetarian artists only, to add another playful element of vegan encouragement. Furthermore the experience and results from the event were to be documented with pictures and video. As well as having a couple of friends observing the guests’ interactions around the room while I was busy in the kitchen. Finally I wanted to ask the guests Initial ‘Pig and Bull’ Experiments : Oumph & Pea-Tempeh to leave a review in form of a survey before they left, to obtain further data on their experience.

In my process of preparing for this event I have been experimenting in the kitchen, cooking and recipe testing. The recipes and menu concepts I have developed in this process I have found another use for in final materialisation as I had to cancel the event.

Final Meatball Experiments : Soy-Mince, Gravy & Potatoes

17 Initial ‘Fish’ Experiments : Parsnip, Zucchini and Tofu with Nori : Frying vs. Dehydrating 18 Final ‘Fish’ Experiments : Smoked Carrot Salmon, on Sourdough Toast

19 Dessert ‘Egg’ Experiments: Custard Eggs with Seaberry Yolk

20 Final ‘Common Comfort Food’: Comfort For Fish, Carrot Salmon on Toast

Final ‘Common Comfort Food’: Comfort For Pigs & Bulls, ‘Meat’balls, Potatoes, Mushroom Gravy & Lingon

Final ‘Common Comfort Food’: Comfort For Lambs and Chicks, ‘Kebab’ Pizza with Garlic-‘Yogurt’sauce and Plant-cheese

21 Final ‘Common Comfort Food’: Comfort For Cows, Nacho ‘Cheese’dip and Chips

Final ‘Common Comfort Food’: Comfort For Hens, Chocolate Cake, ‘Egg’ Custard & Crumble

22 Collaboration: Iteration #2

New Direction: From Public to Personal Moving forward in the process, with the compli- cations of social distancing, I decided to focus my comfort food explorations more inwards rather than outwards. I had planned to use the social set- Invitation to participate ting of a public restaurant dinner as a platform for in my thesis project: intervention and a method for collecting reflections from the guests, an outwards, public ap- Hello! proach to collaboration. Instead I decided to now I would like to ask if you are interested in participating in my focus on collaborating on a more personal level, final independent project at the Linnæus University? with one-on-one interviews and accompanying As my plans to host an event at a restaurant here in town has cooking sessions, both of which were executed been cancelled due to the current situation, I would like to try online. a new approach to my project. My project is about researching people’s emotional connec- The change of emphasis in my practice has made tion to food and doing some experiments on that topic. Espe- my process more diverse and added another level cially around the concept of “comfort food”. Throughout my process I ask the question: “Comfort Food - Comfortable for of meaningful reflections on the topic of com- Who?” fort food. The truth is that the preparation and In order to participate I will ask you to meet me on two oc- consumption of comfort food more commonly casions. First for a short interview, for around 15-20 minutes. happens within the home and therefor a transi- And secondly a longer meeting for a collaborative cooking tion from the public eating experience to a more session, where we would cook together through a video call. We would cook a meal which we decide upon in the initial private and homely setting is both interesting and interview and then eat ‘together’ and discuss our experience. logical. I would really apreciate if you want to take part in this experiment with me, please let me know as soon as you can, and Participants and Interviews don’t hesitate to ask me any questions! For my one-on-one collaborations I chose to Kind regards, involve five people who are all close family and Una friends to me, my parents, my grandfather and a couple of friends. The participants span age groups across three generations, from the age of 23-69, the choice of participants was also affect- Invitation for Participation: Co-Design Cooking Sessions ed by what I knew about their eating habits and their attitude towards cooking, as I wanted some variety in my results. 23 I invited each person to participate and set up a time for the first interview. The interview process established a connection between me and the participant on the topic of comfort food, as an open Interview — template conversation with a few set questions leading us through the process. The main goal with the inter- name ______views was to figure out the participant’s ultimate age: ______photo? comfort meal, and analyse why that meal was so how much/ little du you enjoy cooking? special as well as determining it’s essential ele- ______ments in terms of flavour, texture, cooking method ______and appearance. how much of the food you eat do you cook yourself? if you had to choose one meal that is your ______ultimate comfort food, what would it be? ______(a meal that provides you comfort / makes you feel good) In this process I returned to the question of favou- ______rite foods as I had explored in my first co-design what are the flavours and textures you ______typically love in food? ______workshop, but now with the focus shifted from ______favorite meals to the most comforting ones. By why this meal? ______how would you describe your diet in 3 words? ______keeping the focus on this element of comfort ______around eating, the results are meals that the partic- ______what are the most essential factors that make ipant has a social and emotional connection to. do you ever eat food to make you feel good? this meal such a nice eating experrience? what kind of food? (flavour / texture / smell / season / other?) As mentioned before such meals are part of ______people’s identities. They are meals that typically ______represent a memory or a special family member ______or friend important to that person and are there- other thoughts / comments cooking session plan: for also meals that people have a very hard time ______date/time______giving up on. ______meal ______The second meeting with the participants explored ______how to convert to truly the possibilities of remaking these ultimate com- ______comfortabl meal? ______fort foods with plant-based ingredients. The meals ______chosen by the participants all included animal ______ingredients______products, my grandfather chose a meal based on ______breaded and fried lamb chops, my mom chose a ______dish based on cheese filled pasta, with a creamy ______sauce, my dad chose risotto, made with butter and cheese, one of my friends chose a typical Icelan- Interview Template: Guide For Conversation dic ‘mashed fish’ dish based on a milky sauce

24 Co-Design Cooking Sessions In preparation for the cooking sessions I looked into each participant’s comfort food meal request and developed a way of making that same meal but with plant-based ingredients, a “comfort for all” version of the original. Some of the recipes were more challenging than others, but all of them had a great potential for re-making. After testing veganized versions of the recipes I sent out a shopping list to the participants, asking them to prepare for the cooking session by getting the Jón, my Grandfather: Holding His Favorite Comfort Snack ingredients on the list. For some of the recipes the ingredients were quite unusual to the non-vegan participants, so I added pictures to the shopping list and described to the participants where to find them in the supermarket. When remaking the recipes I tried my best to create a simple and easy and the other friend chose a creamy tomato and to follow recipe while maintaining the mandatory chicken soup. It is interesting to see how diverse comfort elements of the recipe. these meals are, it reinforces the idea that comfort food is something very personal, not a one kind The cooking sessions were set up in a way where fits all fix. both me and the participant had our laptops placed in the kitchen in a spot with a view over the bench By doing this experiment on such a personal level top and cooking area. That way we could follow I am returning to the feminist and vegan values along each others’ processes on the screen. These of care and compassion in the process. I believe sessions were mostly guided by my instructions, that by taking such an approach to the challenge while I regularly asked the participant questions of changing eating habits, the results are more to make sure we were doing things according to impactful than other efforts like showing grue- their comfort food needs and somewhat in line some slaughterhouse videos or by sending links to with their traditional way of making the dish. By vegan recipes. By addressing the change effort in doing this we kept the recipe in dialog amongst us a customised way for each participant you show throughout the cooking process, and so the final care and attention to that person’s needs and com- recipes are a co-designed product of our cooking passionately guide them in the process. sessions. 25 The easiest recipe to transition from animal based egg mixture with a mix of flour and water, acting to plant based was my dad’s risotto, the creamy like a glue to make the breadcrumbs stick to the texture of risotto is caused by the rice releasing mushrooms. Despite this recipe re-make being a it’s starches while stirring them in the pot. The bit challanging, it managed to meet my grandfa- traditional animal ingredients typically used in ther’s general comfort criteria in comparison to risotto: butter and parmesan cheese are quite eas- the original. ily replaceable, we used a vegan butter based on rapeseed oil and we made a parmesan substitute Doing these cooking experiments online was the from cashew nuts and nutritional yeast, a cheesy only way to execute this collaboration during flavoured deactivated yeast product. Sometimes these odd times in which we are unable to social- risotto recipes also include meat or animal based ise, which in turn provided the comfort of being stocks, but my dad’s recipe is all about the mush- able to choose participants beyond the local. It room flavour, using both fresh and dried mush- felt good to spend these quality cooking moments rooms. The mushroom is the hero flavour in the with the people I care about and miss back home. recipe and the base ingredient is rice, so therefor Furthermore it felt logical to cook with people there was no need for drastic changes in our plant- who are close to me as we inherently trust eacho- based version. ther in the process and we can both feel comfortable in collaborating and communicating though My grandfather’s request for comforting breaded such an otherwise awkward platform, like Zoom lamb chops was a bit more challenging. The hero or other video-call platforms. The process of ingredient is lamb, which has a pretty distinctive cooking together via video-call was not optimal, texture, in my memory it is a bit tough and chewy, the sounds from moving around pots, pans and while the flavour is typically a pretty bland lamb’s other utensils are quite uncomfortable when trying meat flavour. In my plant-based version I replaced to communicate verbally, but usually it became the lamb with a portobello mushroom, I wanted a bit smoother a few minutes into the process, as to mimic the texture by drying out the mushroom the participants got used to the scenario and as I and flattening it in the oven. That way it was more figured out how to deliver my instructions better dense and meaty and less spongy like mushrooms suiting to each person. Finally after making each tend to be. Portobellos usually pack quite a meaty meal I would sit down with the participant and we umami flavour, but to enhance those flavours we would discuss the experience of cooking together added smoked paprika, onion powder and salt this way. We would then analyse the meal we to the breading mixture. We replaced the typical made in terms of the participant’s comfort criteria. 26 Snapshots from Cooking Collaboration with my Grandfather, Jón

Snapshots from Cooking Collaboration with my Dad, Hallgrímur

27 Outcome The results from the cooking collaborations were of challanging a person close to you to cook a all positive and this experience of veganizing veganized version of their ultimite comfort food, another person’s comfort favorite was very in- or any comforting food for that matter is a very sightful. As expected it became clear that the powerful way of encouraging a change in their participants hold an emotional bond to the original eating behaviour. comfort meal. By changing that meal and making it something slightly different the participants’ This method allows people to engage in common attitude seemed to be a bit of scepticism change-making through cooking with a very when asked if the meal qualified as an identical openminded and respectful attitude. As mentioned substitute to the original. The original is some- before, this project is based on the recognition thing very specific to each person, in terms of that our food is more than just nutrition, it is part flavour, texture and even aroma. The participants of our cultural and individual identities, and it could very easily identify the differences in the both impacts and is impacted by our emotions. By plant-based version compared to the original. That respecting these factors and empathising with the being said all participants agreed that the plant- people possibly in the process of changing their based meal met the comfort standards of the ani- eating habits, we create a comfortable environ- mal-based original, they all felt it was a comfort- ment to pursue this change-making process. ing alternative. I am pleased with the results, as This method is founded in a balance between the the purpose with the experiment was not to create necessary criticality of the current eating norms an identical substitute, but to recreate the elements and a caring and compassionate approach. There- of comfort in each meal, with truly comfortable by tying together my goals of pursuing a feminist ingredients. approach to the issue of eating habits and following Tobias Leeneart’s openminded strategy to- The experience of developing the recipe together wards veganism, as mentioned earlier. was positive. Before each cooking session I had the base of the recipe figured out but throughout each session the participant and I collectively created a more detailed recipe based on their preferences. By cooking this way the recipes are customised, they are made for that specific person and not necessarily for any greater audience. As I do want to share this experiment to a further audience I am aware that I should rather focus on sharing the method of collaborative cooking than the specific recipe. I believe that the action

28 Lamb-chop Ingredients and the Resulting Meals, First Mine then my Grandfather Jón’s >>>

Filled Pasta Ingredients and the Resulting Meals, First Mine then my mom Brynja’s >>>

Risotto Ingredients and the Resulting Meals, First Mine then my Dad Hallgrímur’s >>>

29 Mashed Fish Ingredients and the Resulting meals, First Mine then my Friend Perla’s >>>

Chicken Soup Ingredients and the Resulting Meals, First Mine then my Friend Arna’s >>>

30 Framing Design Explorations

Purpose & Outreach Format & Exhibition Going forward, I want to communicate the mate- The initial idea for communicating my design out- rial I have gathered through my explorations in a comes was to create a critical take on a cookbook, way which adds up with my initial goals of en- in printed form. But as I analysed my material and couraging a change in eating habits and behaviour. thought of it’s opportunities, it became clear that The material I have designed in my process is the next iteration had to be digital. My final design made up of ten recipes, five of which were made outcome is a website, where the recipes are still in relation to the dinner event at Villa de luxe, and in line with the format of a cookbook as well as a the other five were made through cooking co-de- recipe blog. The recipes are presented as methods sign experiments. All of them have in common for change, communicating more than just your that they represent true comfort food. The first typical food recipe, emphasising critical reflections five represent commonly consumed animals in a and encouraging a change in action. plant-based adaptation of popular comfort foods. The remaining five represent five different person- By framing the recipe methods and their processes al perspectives on comfort food, in a plant-based in an open source, online document, I hope for format. them to travel a bit further and reach some sort of audience. Whether the viewer will try collaborat- The purpose of sharing these recipes is to demon- ing on a plant-based recipe with a friend or simply strate how a transition from traditional comfort questions their eating habits, I believe it could foods to plant-based ones is a suitable way to kick- contribute to a larger discussion and practice. start a journey towards new and better eating habits. The goal is to inspire and encourage the viewer The website became a means of communicating to adapt plant-based versions of comfort foods my process and exhibiting my outcomes, you can for themselves and further through collaboration find it through this link: https://comfortfoodfor- with family or friends. More specifically, it intends who.com. Find further details on the thoughts to present just how a caring and compassionate and design decisions behind it in the ‘exhibition’ approach to veganism is both possible and viable. appendix below.

31 Behind the Scenes: Cooking Setup in my Kitchen in Kalmar

Behind the Scenes: Setup in my Dad’s Kitchen in Reykjavík Behind the Scenes: Eating ‘Together’ Setup in my Friend Perla’s Kitchen in Reykjavík 32 Conclusion

Instructions: First critically analyse the animal-eating Meanwhile involve collaborative efforts, norm, observe both the patriarchal social the importance of going beyond your own constructs and the psychological foun- ideas of what it means to change these Despite the inconvenience of cancelling and dations of our eating habits. Try to un- habits is essential. You can do this in every changing my plans in this process, it brought me derstand and respect people’s emotional stage, during research and in practice, rec- the opportunity to see cooking as design practice relationship to food by recognising food ognising the fact that change will not hap- from a broader perspective. I believe we have to as a more than nutrition, as a source of pen with one person and that a collabora- recognise the ongoing pandemic, as a reminder of comfort. Add a challenge to the cognitive tive effort will always be more meaningful. our privilege. It’s emergence has brought about dissonance persistent in our behaviour and In a similar way, make sure to involve cus- changes in human behaviour we maybe didn’t attitude around food. tomised efforts, there is no ‘one kind fits all think were possible, it is a truly unfortunate situ- fix’ to the issue of changing habits! Finally ation and a humbling one. I hope it further gen- Next recognise and use cooking as in- and most importantly engage in a truly erates people’s capabilities of change in action, terventionist design practice, apply compassionate and caring way throughout through care and compassion. change-making methods that involve a fair the process. compromise, one that respects and val- Reflecting on my project proecss, I want to gather ues our normative habits while sufficiently my thoughts and outcomes in the form of a ‘recipe challenging them. Make sure to broad- instruction’. The recipe is my ongoing attempt to en the spectrum of cooking and eating contextualise the mental and socio-cultural com- scenarios in need of change: Cooking at With this I encourage you to gather over cooking, plexities involved in the challenge of changing home, ordering in or eating out, following whether that be in person or online and collective- eating habits, it is a recipe for change. The instruc- a recipe, cooking by instinct or heating up ly challenge your eating habits. Whether you are tion is a conclusion of my insights, but also an a precooked meal. All of these scenarios already acting on these issues or you are taking open-ended summary, as there is no one solution and many more are relevant to the task of your first steps, I hope you are inspired to take to this great issue and I am aware my design em- changing eating habits, everything from the part of the strive towards a genuine comfort-for- phasis and relevant tools and methods will change common and public to the personal and all way of eating, serving comfort beyond hu- and evolve as I keep working with this subject. private. man-only needs! 33 References

Joy, M. (2010). Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows. San Francisco, Calif.: Conari.

Rothgerber, H. (2020) Meat-related cognitive dissonance: A conceptual framework for understanding how meat eaters reduce negative arousal from eating animals. Ap- petite (146) Leenaert, T. (2017) How to Create a Veg- an World a pragmatic approach. New York: Adams, C. (2010) The Sexual Politics of Lantern. Meat. New York, The Continuum. Eat Art collective (2020). Accessed Locher, J. PhD , Yoels, W. Maurer, D. & van 2020/04/09. https://eatartcollective.nl/en/ Ells, J. (2005) Comfort Foods: An Explor- home-2/ atory Journey Into The Social and Emotion- al Significance of Food.Food & Foodways, Versendaal, K (2019). Accessed 13:4, 273-297 2020/04/09. http://www.the-eatelier.com/

Zampollo, F. (2015) The wonderful world of Fowkes, M. and R. (2015) Renewing the Food Design. A conversation with Marije Curatorial Refrain: Sustainable Research Vogelzang. International Journal of Food in Contemporary Art. Curating Research. Design, 1:1, 65-71 Open Editions / de Appel. 34 Appendix

Exhibition My design outcomes came to be a set of 10 rec- I made the decision to turn from the physical present in the personal recipes, I included a short ipes, half of them representing common comfort printed book towards a digital website format, description of statistics and other information on foods in the context of the industrialised global while my idea of a critical take on a cookbook the common consumption of the certain animals north’s food cultures. The other half was a set of still remained in focus. The format of the website of which each recipe was based. This was an 5 co-designed recipes for personal comfort food was inspired by cookbooks, while also looking attempt to somehow mirror the importance of the favorites, made with members of my family and to food blogs and other digital recipe venues for animals we most often don’t think of in relation friends! I wanted to use these recipes as a doc- inspiration. The website format I chose gave me to our comfort food consumption with the impor- umentation and communication of my design the option to display my recipes in a scrolling tance of the individual human’s comfort when process and outcomes, with the goal to inspire and format similarly to other food blogs, the format eating the food. The human participants’ introduc- encourage the viewer to cook and consume more also allowed me to involve a kind of storytelling tions reflect their emotional and cultural con- plant-based foods. in a fluent way throughout the communication of nection to food while the animals’ introductions the “personal comfort food” recipes. For these reflects the environmental and ethical need to not In the process of thinking through ways of ma- recipes I combined introduction interviews, cook- consume these animals as food. terialising my project outcomes, I shifted from ing instructions and quotes from the participatory wanting to work in printed form, towards a focus cooking sessions with images and videos to weave The change making elements of my project are on digital communication. I wanted to create a together the story of cooking collaborations, with focused on the socio-cultural and personal sphere, critical take on a cookbook, displaying the recipes the resulting meal. The hope with the communi- on implementing change in people’s eating hab- as more than only recipes for certain meals, but cation of these co-designed recipes was to make its, with the greater goal to thereby minimise the recipes encouraging a shift in perspective and a the cooking process as intriguing as the resulting harmful environmental and ethical effects our change in action. My turn towards the digital for- meal, making the viewer inspired by the impact eating habits cause. I see my recipes as methods mat was influenced both by the fact that I had ac- of collaboration in tackling the complexities of or tools for encouraging a change in mindset and quired some interesting video footage during my changing eating habits - recipes for change. in habits, they can be used as they are as direct process, which would be best displayed in such a cooking instructions or they can be seen as inspi- format, as well as fact that our projects would not The “common comfort food” recipes used a very ration for collectively imposing change in eating be displayed in a physical exhibition space. similar scrolling format while they were much habits with the people close to you. shorter. Instead of the participant interviews

35 <<< <<<

Screengrabs from the Front Page of: https://comfortfoodforwho.com 36 <<<

“Before and After” Images <<< Screengrabs: Example of “Common Comfort Food” Recipe Sub-Page: https://comfortfoodforwho.com/common-comfort-foods 37 <<< <<<

Ingredients in Visual and Written Form

Videos in Relation to Storyline and Instructions: Autoplay on

Constant loop. <<< Screengrabs: Sxample of “Personal Comfort Food” Recipe Sub-Page: https://comfortfoodforwho.com/personal-comfort-foods

38 <<< <<< <<<

Screengrabs from my Exhibition Project on the Online Platform: https://2020.designportfoliolnu.com 39 As mentioned by Maja and Reuben Fowkes in “personal comfort food” section was to empha- site, where I associated the food pictures with the relation to Félix Guattari’s study of the three ecol- sise the importance of each individuals needs and animals they represented. I included the spinning ogies, there is a need to take into consideration the comfort food desires. meat planet for movement on the page and for environmental, social and mental when thinking setting the tone for my project. I also included a about sustainability in curatorial work. (Fowkes, The way I chose to use the photographs was firstly sort of ‘teaser’ version of the video material from 2015) Throughout my initial design process and to create a sense of before and after with the the cooking collaboration, to represent the import- eventually in relation to the exhibition I have ‘ingredients photos’ and ‘result photos’, I wanted ant element of collaboration and for more enticing kept in mind the importance of involving all three the ingredients to be represented visually as well movement on the page. registers of ecologies in the reflection of my work. as in writing so they can give a hint as for what is I find it important that my work not only focuses to come, they give the viewer the initial message The process of collectively curating and creating on one of these ecologies but at all at once, as I that this will not be a traditional version of com- an online exhibition has been a challenge, some- believe change won’t happen for the better of the fort food as you are used to, they show that plants thing very new and different for the entire gradu- environment unless humans feel the change is are the stars of these meals and that this is a recipe ation group and staff, I would have really loved to also possible within their social sphere as well as for change. For the “personal comfort food” exhibit my work in some sort of physical space, mentally viable for them. In the communication of recipes the photographs also showed a compari- mostly for the sense of community and gather- my exhibition work I made sure to touch on these son between my meal and the participant’s which ing that such spaces allow for. Throughout my three registers, as all of them are essential to the I though could be a nice way for the viewer to process the element of coming together has been concept of my design work. experience the sense of collaboration, and feeling important, from organising a dinner gathering that that there were two individuals at play in making since has been cancelled towards finding a sense I wanted to communicate the recipes in a way that these meals. For the video clips I wanted to show of gathering in an online setting. I guess it is just would be very clear and easily read by the viewer, the same thing, the comparison and collaboration as relevant for the exhibition of my project to take as well as using a visual language to further com- in action, for the viewer this was more so meant place in the digital world, free from geographi- municate my message: A spinning meat-planet, as a glimpse into this co-design cooking experi- cal boundaries and more accessible for sharing. representing the critique of our traditional habits, ence than for directional purposes. I hope the site reaches a few people here and participants and animals featured in the same style there and serves as an inspiration to gather over of line illustration, thereby representing at the For the eventual online exhibition platform ‘2020. cooking, wether that be in person or online and same level of importance. The choice of colourful designportfoliolnu.com’, it felt a bit strange to ex- collectively challenging our eating habits, serving backgrounds on the website and use of tablecloths hibit a website within another website platform, I comfort beyond human-only needs. in the photographs, sets a home-like scene, where thought it would be best to chose a few important the emphasis is on displaying the recipes in a examples from my design and summarise them to warm and comforting setting. The faded yellow make the viewer interested and possibly willing References: on the front page was to feel calming and inviting, to open the project website ‘comfortfoodforwho. the grey-ish blue in the “common comfort food” com’ for more, while still having the exhibition Fowkes, M. and R. (2015) Renewing the section was to represent the slightly less person- page to stand on it’s own, telling the story of my Curatorial Refrain: Sustainable Research al approach and more generalised portrayal of project as a whole. I articulated my work in writ- in Contemporary Art. Curating Research. comfort foods, while the soft pink scheme in the ing and included picture examples from my web- Open Editions / de Appel.

40 Acknowledgements

Thanks to everyone who made this project with me!

To Gustav Hector for opening your restaurant for a critical and challenging event.

To Brynja, Hallgrímur, Jón, Perla and Anna for cooking with me and co-designing recipes for change.

To Anna-Karin, Eric, Åsa and all my tutors for the support.

And finally thanks to everyone who has been and will be challanging the animal-eating norm in action, for the inspiration and for the important fight!