Food design and food studies: Discussing creative and critical thinking in food system education and research

In the past 20 years, two new disciplines have been created and have evolved, first as two separate subjects, and now more and more interconnected: food studies and food design studies. The motive behind the recent success and popularity of education in the agri-food sector lies in the fact that everywhere in the world, the boundaries around the world of food and nutrition have widened. More attention is dedicated to communication, proximity, connections, social and cultural values, and the construction of new food systems. There is a growing need to find new ways to defeat food paradoxes (malnutrition, non-sustainable production systems and the battle against food waste, to name a few). In the past 10 years, the design method has been consolidating into the field of food. Participatory design and co-creation in food experience design became popular along with the discipline of food design. However, the interest in emerging and innovative forms of teaching models in academic and non-academic scenarios in agri-food education is increasing and becoming a challenging issue in food studies pedagogy. The learning objectives of food system education are continuously redefined with the aim of providing food experts with the necessary skills to change food systems and support more sustainable and healthier food value chains. In this article four case studies are presented in which a design approach was applied into different food system education programmes. The author of this article has personally been involved in each of the four scenarios, as a teacher and as a designer. Complex questions concerning the intersection of food system educational contexts, collaboration skills, critical knowledge production and creative approaches are considered in this article. The author presents the dimensions of critical/creative thinking in the scenarios and concludes with a discussion of the challenges and resources for food studies and design educators. The lessons learned in this article provide a starting point for discussing creativity in food system learning and education. On the basis of the analysis carried out in this article, design appears to be an interesting research method to apply to food system education, capable of creating innovative interactions between disciplines and new critical and creative mindsets for food experts. Increasing creativity and critical thinking as learning objectives in food system education will generate more sustainable food cultures and communities.