From Soil to Mouth:
An exploration of alternative feasting and harvesting methods in reaction to the disappearing of the conventional dining room
During one of my occasional visits to the family homestead, I found myself eating alone in one of two dining rooms in my parent’s Canadian middle-class country house—as they enjoy their meal in another room, in front of the television. You’d think farmers would have a greater respect for the ritual of consuming the ever so time-consuming ingredients found in their plate. Not anymore, not today; not for now it seems.
In this lethargic epoch of connecting with other humans through technological devices, and what I perceive as a rise in individuality, grounded food consumption practices appear to be neglected alongside. This is nowhere near a new phenomenon, as this is something that has been observed since the dawn of the industrialization of agriculture, individualized meals, microwaves, and home delivery services . Why take the time to set the table and sit down with others, when you can simply open a take-out box and eat at your own convenience? This results in the idea of communal or even family shared meals as being less significant. Another factor to these solitary acts of dining is the adoption of new or amorphous family structures and how mealtime is valued within these . Through the decolonization of gender and Westernized family power structures—such as the nuclear family—, the commonly known domestic hierarchy is being questioned, thus forcing to rethink not only daily activities such as dining, but also the interior landscape in which these activities are happening.
According to a study conducted by Lori et al., 58% of Canada’s food production ends up being wasted, and consumers play their part in this. This work critiques and reimagines the food experience as we have come to know it in western society, through a series of expedient artifacts in relation to food culture—such as foraging, feasting, and dining. As a means of helping both the viewer and the user reflect on the paucity of contemporary dining through commentary, the research aims to restore the perception of food value to its consumer. Food for human consumption goes through multiple actors, from the soil it grows in, to the way it is discarded at the end of its life cycle. Through this research-creation practice, the study will focus on ‘value’ associated to agricultural practices and the consumption activities of its yielding in domestic settings. In the frame of this study, value is expressed as the capability of bringing communities together, whether this be within human communities, or other living organisms.
Starting with contemporary agricultural practices as a means of understanding the impact of ‘fast’ dining on food production, the research then leaps to the experience of food consumption, partially disregarding the preparation portion that comes before the ingestion, due to the time-bound nature of this masters. Although agriculture isn’t as far from the consumer as we may think, most are oblivious of its complexity and the consequences of our dining habits on it. Food not only represents society’s behavior, but also the future of its existence; it is a cultural act central to how we live . According to my perception of the issue, society’s fast-paced lifestyle has rendered food valueless and easily discarded, making the ‘dining’ experience a rare activity among most. Consequently, the disappearing of such traditions results in a shift of the domestic interior landscape and dare I say the disappearing of the dining room and its instruments altogether.
Using queer ideology as a theoretical approach, the artifacts created through this research will reflect on alternative relationships with food and its origin. The overall approach for this scrutiny is not to produce items of desire per se, but to reflect on how our everyday objects influence our habits and perception of value [and the possible consequences of these]. Proposed outcomes are to be inclusive and future forward, while keeping in mind the idea of undesigning and deindustrializing as a solution to contemporary problems.
Finding itself within queer theory, this study tackles well-known power structures to rethink pre-establish norms and reconsider current approaches to food. Topics rooted in cultural and socio-political conversations are known to be controversial at times, yet inevitable when tackling resources scarcity in relation to agriculture. To reflect on this topic from a self-centered perspective, autoethnography and thinking through making are used to criticize existing binaries and propose reflections on contemporary realities, and possible tomorrows.
The outcome of the research serves to enlighten consumers on the true value of food and its ability to bring communities together around a main interest: eating. This could result in the positive expression of community building, the reduction of food waste, and better understanding of the role of holistic agriculture in our complex food system.
By exploring the hypothesis of a disappearing dining room, the proposed artifacts reflect on a household without a table nor chairs on which to enjoy dinner. What becomes of the plates and tablecloths we cherish, when there isn’t a platform for them to be displayed or used? This research investigates the role tangible intermediaries—such as furnishings and instruments—play in the association of value onto ingredients we consume as sustenance, and onto communities. Current food consumption habits are forcing agricultural practices to work in irreversible ways, against nature, to yield maximum results, without considering future implications.
I started to research the body as a surface to set the table. My body as surface I could enjoy my meal on. My body as this separate “thing.” As if the outside and the inside didn’t communicate. I’m discovering my body, inside and out. I want to materialize what I feel inside. I wish to share a meal with myself, but I never take the time to ‘dine’ with myself.
What if this dining chair, became my eating surface. Instead of being a seat for my posterior, why can’t it be a vessel to my meal, or at least, hold the plate harnessing the meal I generously made myself? It all goes back to when I tied a string to a stool’s legs and wore it as if it were an apron. My intention was to merge two of my passions: fashion and food. But here I am, making harnesses and tables. Exploring myself through the dining room. The initial idea sounded silly to me; and it still does in a certain way. But the products I propose aren’t the result of a research, they are part of the research. They allow me to better understand the enjeux related to the various topics I’m reflecting on.
How does one carry a chair, as a mother carries her newborn baby? Chairs, like bodies, are different from one another. Sure, some are mass-produced, but in my humble abode, I hoard many different seating instruments; and wish to repurpose all of them into possible eating arrangements. From a one-dining-room-household to an array of feasting possibilities, enticing me to eat, and not skip a meal. Ironically, one of my favorite things to do is to share a meal. With a friend, or maybe a stranger.
If the body is the recipient to food; are garments vessels to the body? To this, I ask myself, how can the cloths once used to set the table become vestments to the body—hopefully bringing us closer to our food. As a result of this research is a series of homeware and dining instruments that provoke reflection regarding our habits related to consumption of food, with the intention of creating additional value to its origin. Ultimately, this work aims at highlighting the importance of community-based alternatives, for a more sustainable and more inclusive tomorrow. I approach this work with specific intentions; that of understanding my relationship with food through the process. I hope to be able to share my appreciation for it, as well as communicate the sensibilities that make dining an experience of intimacy with the ones I share it with, as well as an act of intimate sharing with whomever grew it. “[…] but also to inspire the pursuit of more holistic ways of knowing oneself, encountering others, sharing knowledge, and evolving together towards harmonious and resilient forms of living.”
If food is the price to pay to occupy the body, sustenance is what allows us to be. Knowing this, I ask myself what role do garments play in the adorning of this recipient [the body]? The initial idea behind these wearables is to explore garments that entangle two bodies in the act of consuming food, making it forcefully an act of sharing or a communal one, but also the union of two bodies in a more than physical way.
As humans, we eat to live. I suggest we live to eat; and see where that takes us as a society.
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