critical design
How does the preferred future of food look like?
Idea, art direction & production
Jeroen Icks
Challenge, context & objectives
We are increasingly nourishing ourselves with ultra-processed "food," designed to keep us going anytime, anywhere. This food, made mostly from artificial nutrients, is consumed with the goal of efficiently and cheaply meeting our daily calorie, vitamin, and carbohydrate needs to stay alive.
Insights & strategy
In truth, we are drugging ourselves with artificial concoctions packed with chemicals and single nutrients like starch. A calorie bomb that lacks true nourishment. Overconsumption disrupts our natural eating habits and brings with it serious health risks like obesity, digestive issues, and even cancer. We are part of an unprecedented drug-like food climate.
Bringing the strategy & idea to life
Food of the Future: Confiscated imagines a preferred future where the Ministry of the Future takes drastic action against ultra-processed "food." The confiscation of the food we consume in massive amounts, along with the severe consequences of its overconsumption, highlights how urgent and close this issue really is. We are already in the thick of it. Consumers aren't making the choice to overconsume; they are skillfully tempted, drugged, and addicted. For example, while ingredients like starch in ultra-processed food may come from natural sources, once isolated from other nutrients, it loses its value, offering no real nutrition.
