Basement Food Discarded - What & Why

I got a lot out of this project. It strengthened the process I've used and gave me new ways of thinking creatively about possible visual approaches.

Recapping the steps briefly, after choosing to analysis my food inventory, I focused on items in the basement that I discarded after finding there were more than 20. My questions focused on why food was being discarded and what types were heading to the compost. I also looked at where the items were stored in the basement, which had no influence. I indicated items were I intentionally purchased multiple identical items (such as four ascetic boxes of tofu) vs. duplicates that were purchases in error because I wasn't aware what I had already.

The key insights were that the leading reasons for discarding items were that they were unhealthy, or I didn't like them. The reasons acted almost as a sequence of screens, where I discarded most (though not all) unhealthy items, then eliminated those I didn't like, then found some that had expired because I really didn't have a routine recipe that used them. These insights are helpful as I declutter my pantry and think about what to store in the house vs. what I should just buy from a bulk bin on an as needed basis. This should reduce food waste and storage space needed.

In terms of the design process, I learned how important it is to be very organized. I was a little lax, such as not carefully following each step in order and saving work products at each step. My design, done digitally, has tons of layers, and I was too lazy to name them all. Next time I would be more methodical and think through steps and layer management at the outset.

This was a great course and definitely delivered on what I hoped to get from it!