Food Democracy

'Food Democracy concludes with editor Vodeb’s visual essay, “Living Out a Situation: The Memefest Food Democracy Brisbane Sessions,” which highlights how the 2013 Festival symposium and workshop applied an extradisciplinary approach that merged experimental research with art and design. As the form and subject of this conclusion show, Food Democracy is not your traditional academic book. By including contributions from academics, activists, and professionals in fields from art, design, the social sciences, and philosophy, Vodeb expands the topic’s scope and shows the benefit of interweaving a variety of approaches and research tactics. In other words, Food Democracy offers everyone a seat at the table.'

-- Jennifer A. Vokoun, Design and Culture 10.2

'In this compelling collection, Memefest contributors remind us why food lies at the heart of contemporary political struggle. The single most damning truth about contemporary global society is that people continue to starve on a planet that produces enough food to nourish its entire population. This tragedy results from the use of food as a medium of control and a source of profit. The essays in this collection provide a crucial source for developing the tools and practices to support sustainable democracy in a time of global instability. Now more than ever we need the Memefest organization’s prescient blend of theory and practice, aesthetics and politics.'

-- Mark Andrejevic, Monash University, Pomona College

'The most effective step you can take to save the world, and yourself, is to change the way you eat. The food industry is responsible for more health problems, environmental damage, and social strife than any other. By choosing what to put in our mouths, we can heal ourselves, save the topsoil, feed the hungry, and overturn neoliberalism. Food Democracy shows the many easy, powerful, and delicious ways to achieve a sustainable future. We are what you eat.' 

-- Douglas Rushkoff, author, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus

'This extraordinary new book challenges us to reclaim the role of design and public communication in imagining a democratic future of food. By recognizing that representation, as well as production, distribution and consumption, is a key element in the way the global food system works, this book shows that design is crucial to determine how we think about food. As an answer to this, Oliver Vodeb has curated an inspiring collection of examples of alternative food design bringing together activists, cultural producers and academics and in the process has redefined what food design may mean.'

-- Ilaria Vanni, University of Technology Sydney

'What can tactical sustenance be in a world where hunger is a part and parcel of our current strategic market systems and governance that function to maintain "food insecurity" on a global scale. Food Democracy is a direct response to navigating this Meat-Market-State by focusing on community research initiatives and artist practices of avant-gardening and beyond that can help us re-configure how our food is designed, how our food is sold, and who has access to food. This book is not just about what the problems are – but what can we do about it.'

-- Ricardo Dominguez, Electronic Disturbance Theater

'This large volume is a thought-provoking hybrid between a traditional collection of essays, a set of recipes (one for each essay), and a catalogue of visual and participatory art pieces and social engagement interventions. The format is the direct reflection of Memefest and its Festival of Socially Responsive Communication, Design, and Art, whose participants and contributors believe that academia, social movements, and professional environments should not operate in silos, but interact and cross-pollinate beyond the customary institutional distinctions. Full review to be published in the International Journal of Food Design.'

-- Fabio Parasecoli, The Huffington