Food – waste – food: the ontological labour of food system transformation
Jonas House, researcher at University of Southampton, explores and develops theory in case studies of things whose status as food is new or uncertain, examining the perception of the food changes across space and time. Affiliated with INDEK and KTH FOOD at KTH, he recently held a seminar and was interviewed on his case studies in Sweden.
House's background to his case studies
Jonas House first became interested in food research when he came across a case involving the use of insects as food in the West.
“At the time there was very little consumer research on the topic, so I applied to study that for my doctoral research. I ended up focusing on the Netherlands, which was the only place in Europe that you could buy insect-based foods in supermarkets at the time.”
This project sparked a broader interest in how certain things become classified as “food”. House continued to do research and teaching at universities before becoming affiliated with KTH Industrial Economics and Management (INDEK) and KTH FOOD. He then encountered case studies on offal, by-catch, and food waste. These items are usually seen as contested for food consumption, but they inspire new ways to expand the category of food.
Blood brownies – incorporating a new side stream in food
There have been efforts to develop markets for blood in food. This idea arose because Swedish slaughterhouses produce a significant amount of blood that usually end up in biogas production. The idea is that introducing blood in food applications would be a better utilization of the resource.
Blood brownies were developed in Sweden through the Blod och Rova research and innovation project, led by IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute in collaboration with Axfoundation and other partners. While it is difficult to say how the public response has changed over time, the blood brownies have received a lot of media attention, and people have been curious to try them.
We asked House what the limitations of introducing blood brownies are.
“One of the difficulties with introducing new products like this is the inclusion of blood in a type of food where it wasn’t used before. This is obviously quite unusual for consumers, but also raises practical challenges for production as well, like finding a baker who is willing and able to work with blood. Luckily the blood brownie has a bakery producer now, so it will be interesting to see how this develops.”
Sopköket – rescuing food from becoming waste
Sopköket is an initiative that aims to use surplus food products to make new catering meals. But how did Sopköket promote their model to eventually receive public acceptance?
“Sopköket is indeed a successful company, although this seems to be less a result of explicit promotion of their business model and more because they are very good at making tasty dishes from rescued food. This relates to a broader theme in my research, in fact, which is that successfully introducing sustainable food is not so much a case of trying to convince people with rationalised arguments, but has more to do with making things delicious.” House answers.
Their successful establishment as a catering corporation relies on making delicious food, as the taste simply outweighs any business model promotion to convince people about their catering service.
Cultural impact and practical realities – the next steps
Cultural setbacks have long been seen as a barrier to advancing these sustainability practices. House tells us that he is not convinced that cultural factors matter as much as is sometimes argued.
“Culture isn’t a static thing. Our ideas about what food is appealing or suitable can, and do, change rapidly.”
People can shift their view of things previously considered waste and instead see them as sustainable options and transforming them into appealing and affordable foods. The limits lie rather beyond simply convincing people to eat side streams or surplus food – they are moreover linked to practical realities. House continues that the challenges are largely a matter of practical, technical and logistical factors that are involved in conventional food production.
For instance, rescuing food requires efforts to sort the items and assure quality. Just like safely collecting blood from slaughterhouses, these are labor-intensive tasks and more technological and logistical approaches are demanded.
In the coming years, House will continue to research on these Swedish case studies. He is also currently investigating alternative proteins, including cultured meat, and will conduct this upcoming fieldwork in Singapore.
Text: Catherine Shi