Press release (only in English):
Emerging media technologies & food storytelling
Amsterdam, 22 May 2019

According to a recent report by the UN, one-third of all food produced in the world is wasted every year. If food waste could be represented as its own country, it would be the third largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind China and the U.S.

Reports indicate that bread is the most wasted food in the Netherlands. According to an article by NRC Handelsblad (10 May 2019), about 25% of all bread in the Netherlands ends up as waste.

Baking Lab Amsterdam explores ways to reduce food waste. Among one of these applications is the use of old bread, as an ingredient to improve the flavour and quality of new breads. The procedure in itself is not new. It is rather an old custom, which got forgotten due to the abundance and relative cheap price of flour, consumer convenience and large scale industrial baking. This waste trend is worsened by the loss of artisanal baking skills and the dependence of small bakers on the suppliers of raw materials, whose economic interest is to sell as many ingredients as possible.

To share our knowledge and inspire future food innovators, Baking Lab hosted thirty master students from the Italian University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) for a tailor made workshop. The goal was to engage the students in new ways that may help reduce food waste, including the use of novel multimedia technologies to develop and share inspiring stories about food, health and sustainability. During the evening the students learnt more about developing storylines using focus group software (QandR). Moreover the content co-created during this workshop will be integrated into a multimedia exhibition coordinated by the WeAre#EuropeForCulture project. This cross European multimedia initiative is based on a novel pop-up media platform (Mu-pop). WeAre#EuropeForCulture will allow people in ten European cities to interact with digital screens using their smartphones, thereby transforming material recorded during cultural events and workshops into a modern storytelling experience.

About Baking Lab Amsterdam
We explore ways to share the ancient narrative and science of baking bread. As a science communicator, we also organise workshops and tailor-made programs for companies, schools and the general public about science, nutrition, sustainability and health. During these programs we also explain fundamental principles from biochemistry, biology and physics which eventually underlie the process of baking. Another important part of our mission is to provide a meaningful workplace for students, and engage them early in their career in the development of programs which may lead to social impact in the future.

References
UN minimising food waste report
NRC, (May 10, 2019)  Bijna een kwart van al het brood gaat verloren
The value of and recycling old bread

Multimedia exhibitions and new technologies
QandR and Mu-pop.
WeAre#EuropeForCulture project

More information about UNISG
University of gastronomic sciences
the Lexicon project, part of the master UNISG programme

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Note for the editors
For more information about:
Baking Lab   Jechiam Gural, gural@bakinglab.nl
WeAre#EuropeForCulture Sofie Taes, sofie.taes@kuleuven.be
UNISG Rowan Hallett, r.hallett@unisg.it

Download the press release