On 22nd and 23rd November, Year 8 students partnered with Food and Nutrition Science students from the University of Adelaide to design and prototype solutions to problems associated with food sustainability. Traditional lessons were suspended for the duration of the two-day Food Sustainability Challenge while students worked in teams to investigate the impact of food production on the global environment, including consideration of issues connected to food wastage, dwindling resources and changing climate. Students then used a human-centred design thinking process to develop solutions.
Each team was mentored by a student from the Food and Nutrition Science program, delivered at University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus. The design teams were also assisted by visiting experts, including Helen Morris, Program Coordinator for Food and Nutrition Science, and Dr John Carragher, Food Innovation Theme – Industry Liaison Manager, both from the University of Adelaide, and Dr Steven Lapidge, CEO Fight Food Waste CRC and Non-Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology.
The two-day challenge culminated in each team pitching their designs to an expert judging panel. The winning pitch came from Dan Pescud and Mohamad (Toe) Imad who, along with fellow student Daniel Block, designed the Apple Scale Staging System: a system used to grade the quality of leftover farm produce (fruit and vegetables) to determine an appropriate use and relevant distribution channel. Special mentions also went to Nicole (Kim) Valente, Cassie Albanus, Christopher Birkin and Javeria Khan for their edible sticker campaign: Help Stick it to Food Waste, and also April Hansen and Princess Basa for their Re-banana campaign to collect bananas wasted at the farm gate and turn them into edible products for sale, returning a portion of the money to banana growers.
Congratulations to all of the Year 8s involved for their innovative solutions and creative pitches. The results were very close, and the judging panel found it difficult to identify a clear winner.
