BEANS, CANNED, OR COOKED
BEANS, CANNED, OR COOKED
REFRIGERATE IT:
REFRIGERATE IT:
Yes, after opened or cooked
Yes, after opened or cooked
FOOD WASTE PROJECT
Food waste is a global issue that has devastating environmental and economic consequences, but often gets overlooked due to the prevalence of many other widespread issues like terrorism, political divisions, and natural disasters, that many consider far more urgent.
However, food waste is a problem that has worsened due to the current pandemic. As businesses close and people's needs shift, farmers are left with more food than they can sell, resulting in a drastic increase in food waste, while more people than ever are struggling with food insecurity due to financial challenges in a failing economy.
As someone who's passionate about food waste, I wanted to create a project that addressed this increasingly important issue with credible information and helpful resources that make reducing food waste more doable.
My passion for food waste started at a young age. Growing up in an Asian family, I've always been taught the importance of not wasting food because there are so many people who aren't able to eat. There is an old Chinese saying I grew up hearing that goes, "Every grain of rice. is a drop of sweat from a farmer's brow." For me and a lot of kids growing up in Chinese families, that was the saying that our parents used to say to teach us to not waste food.
When I first came into college at UCSB, I was shocked by the amount of food wasted in the dining commons. Students often take more food than they can consume because it's easy to overestimate how much you can eat when the dining halls are all-you-can-eat buffet style. Some students may even do this intentionally to get their money's worth due to how expensive college is. Unfortunately, even food that hasn't been touched at all must be tossed as long as it was on a student's plate for safety and health reasons and can't be donated to a food bank which is quite a tragic loss.
After many years of being taught to not waste food, when I saw rampant food waste on my college campus, I felt compelled to do something about it through this project.
To begin this project, I first researched the problem, environmental and economic consequences of food waste, and its relevancy to the current global COVID-19 pandemic. I then brainstormed the various mediums I could use to address this issue. During my brainstorming process, I created a Project Proposal that outlined exactly what my project was going to be in an aesthetically pleasing format.
I wanted my Project Proposal to have a clean, professional, and modern look to convey my personal style. Creating an aesthetically pleasing proposal was important to me because I planned on referring to it throughout the duration of my project.
When designing the front page, I drew inspiration from well-known magazines such as TIME, VOGUE, and VANITY FAIR in my proposal's style, color, font choice, and placement of text.
After playing around with various fonts and colors, I decided to use the font, Bodoni FLF for the main header in a reddish-maroon color (#800f04) that contrasted nicely with the light grey background. The boldness and vibrancy of this color provided a very nice juxtaposition to the more subdued pastel colors used throughout the rest of the page and made the title easier to read and more eye-catching.
For the subtitle, I opted for the font, Abhaya Libre Regular in white (#ffffff) because the minimalistic, yet sophisticated look of the font paired with the white font color provided less contrast than the title while still being relatively easy to read.
Throughout the rest of my proposal (see pages 2 and 3), I used a light pastel pink (#d8c2c0) and a light grey color (#d8d8d7) behind the text to maintain a sense of consistency in my color palette. The light pastel pink served to provide a softer, more subdued version of the reddish-maroon color of the main header, while the light grey gave an aesthetic nod to the grey background of the front page. The softer pinks and greys of the background when paired with the darker text and graphics also provided a visually pleasing contrast that made reading easier.
In pages 2 and 3 of my proposal, I address the food waste problem, its relevancy to the COVID-19 pandemic, the purpose and medium of my project, and my research plans, while accompanied by relevant graphics and a works cited section at the end. At this point, I decided to create an educational and interactive website that serves to provide a source of credible information regarding the food waste problem to as many people as possible in order to encourage viewers of my website to adopt more environmentally and financially sustainable lifestyle practices that help reduce their daily food waste.
The next step was to research extensively on my topic of interest to educate myself so that I could become an expert on the food waste problem before sharing any information with my audience. It was especially important for me to find a wide range of credible sources because I felt a sense of responsibility to provide accurate and unbiased information to the viewers of my website.
After completing an extensive amount of research, I decided to compile all the research I did thus far in an annotated bibliography that clearly outlined my sources with an evaluation of each source based on relevance, credibility, and quality. Making the annotated bibliography during my research process helped me gain a deeper understanding of the food waste problem. It also helped me distinguish my prior views and biases from actual credible research. Most importantly, though, this process allowed me to evaluate the credibility of all my sources so that I had the most reliable and high-quality sources to use in my website's content.
I made sure to use a wide range of sources; some provided general information on the issue with compelling statistics, a few provided details on the negative consequences of food waste, one outlined ways that my audience can reduce their own food waste to help lessen the severity of this issue, and another even listed our companies and organizations that are helping with this cause. I even incorporated a few credible research studies to strengthen my project's appeal to pathos. Finding a strong mix of sources allowed me to start off with a sufficient pool of information to work with so that I could broadly and effectively convey the purpose of my project within my website.
When creating my annotated bibliography, the overall readability and design of the document were important to me even though it was only part of my brainstorming process. Thus, I highlighted the citation of each source to improve readability and the overall aesthetic and included links for quick reference.
Using my Project Proposal and Annotated Bibliography as a guide, I decided to create a Multimodal website on the global food waste problem with the goal of providing people a source of credible information on this important issue. HOVER OVER IMAGE TO VIEW SITE
For my home page, I named my website "GO GREEN" to reflect the environmentally sustainable practices that I advocate for in this project. I chose a photo of a teaset with dark green tea leaves spilled onto a blue table as the backdrop. After experimenting with different fonts and colors, I decided to use the font, Trend in a fluorescent lime green color (#BADA55) that provided just enough visual interest without being overwhelmingly bright. The green in the tea leaves, header, and website name served as the motif and center of focus within my home page.
The subtitle, "REDUCE YOUR FOOD WASTE," was displayed in all caps just like the header. I opted for the font, Avenir Light in white (#ffffff) because it provided a simple elegance that contrasted nicely with the blue backdrop without outshining the title.
Given the overwhelming amount of issues going on in our country, I knew that many people were probably feeling very stressed, so the goal of my project wasn't to overly emphasize the extreme urgency of the food waste problem, but rather my hope was that readers of my website will become more conscious of their food waste and be convinced to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices that help reduce their daily food waste. The purpose of this website wasn't to scare anyone into immediate action, but rather to inspire people to make small positive lifestyle changes that may have a rippling effect on the global food waste problem.
Because I knew many people don’t take food waste seriously especially given the many other social and political issues we’re currently dealing with amid this global pandemic, the multimodality aspect of my website was more important than ever for me to successfully convince my audience on the importance of this issue.
The Food Storage Guide provides information on ways of keeping your food fresh for as long as possible. To create a more interactive experience for the viewer, I incorporated a clickable feature so that the viewer can click on any of the options in the list or on the corresponding food photos in the “menu” on the right. Clicking on one option leads the viewer to a separate page that explains whether to refrigerate different foods, when they are freshest, how to store and freeze them, and ways to use them up. HOVER TO VIEW GUIDE
I incorporated 8 different modes in this project: the website, graphics, a YouTube video to provide viewers an additional source of information, written content, an interactive food storage guide, a blog, an interview/personal stories section, and a recipe book.
The most informative part of my website is the Overview page where I provide information on the problem, its relevancy to COVID-19, where and why food waste occurs, how much food is wasted, the environmental and financial consequences of food waste, and changing laws in response to this issue. I also include relevant, eye-catching graphics to enhance the viewing experience. HOVER TO VIEW OVERVIEW
The Blog leads the viewer to four different blog posts about why college students waste so much food, 20 ways of reducing food waste, the implications that the COVID-19 pandemic has on the global food waste issue, and a list of 20 non-profit organizations, start-ups, and established businesses dedicated to reducing food waste for viewers of my website to consider supporting.
HOVER TO VIEW BLOGS
The Stories page displays the personal accounts of three college students that I interviewed. The viewer can scroll through to read each student’s experience with food waste at their respective college and hover over their name for an important quote. In this particular section, I really wanted to interview students from different schools, two of them go to a UC school and one of them go to a private university on the East Coast, just to get a diverse range of experiences. HOVER TO VIEW STORIES
The main takeaway from these interviews for me was that food waste is especially problematic in colleges due to the fact that dining halls tend to be all-you-can-eat style. I also found it interesting that some schools allow you to donate your leftover meal swipes to those in need or trade them in for food at local restaurants. I think that’s a super cool idea that more schools should consider implementing to reduce food waste.
The Recipe book shows 9 different recipes that are great for when you want to use up things you would normally toss out, helping to reduce food waste. I provide short descriptions for each recipe about how using certain commonly wasted ingredients, such as pumpkin seeds, old bananas, and vegetable scraps can be saved to make simple, yet delicious food. HOVER TO VIEW RECIPES
The website ends with a standard works cited and contact me page.
This was by far, my favorite project because it gave me so much room for creativity with each mode within my website. Throughout the process of creating my website, I learned so much about the global food waste problem, website design via Wix, and the importance of communicating a call-to-action to a clearly defined target audience while creating visually stunning work in effective copywriting.
