Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Food security among college students is a growing concern across the United States. In March of 2020, the University of Kentucky will host the Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH) Summit for students, faculty, administrators, and hunger activists to gather and undertake campus food issues. To understand the ways in which design can participate in the discourse as advocates for campus food security, a third-year studio explored humanitarian and sustainability principles to design conceptual installations that would engage visitors of the UFWH Summit. Subsequently, to pair theoretical exploration with practical application, the studio engaged campus stakeholders to redesign a classroom that was retrofitted as a commercial grade kitchen where a student-run program prepared and served students healthy meals made from recovered food that would otherwise be wasted. Recognizing that just as the size of a plate can influence the amount of food one eats, the character of a space can impact dining experience and demystify negative perceptions about free food programs, the studio relied on a transformative learning framework and evidence-based research to convert a ‘space’ into a ‘place’. Following the semester and receipt of positive feedback, faculty and students of Interior Design, Dietetics and Human Nutrition, as well as Writing and Rhetoric have achieved funding to continue design development and implementation. The process and outcomes intend to serve as an example and replicable model of how design can advocate for food security and social sustainability by helping related programs better express and promote their mission through experience of place.