More Art, Less Waste!

Alliyah Dawud talks about her food-waste creations, that she hopes will highlight creative ways to use up left-over and landfill-destined food, and also will inspire others to reduce food waste. This work formed part of an artist research and development programme of work called, Everything is Broken, which took place across July - November 2021.

Author - Alliyah Dawud 25th January 2022

 In the summer of 2021 myself (along with five other amazing artists) were given the opportunity to demonstrate their leadership skills and bring to life the Leonard Cohen quote:

When I received the information about this opportunity I was a bit confused. My forms of artistry are food and words. My form of expression is creating edible art while often using ingredients destined for landfill; or cheap as chips ingredients we often ignore for those that are in vogue. What drives me is my passion for reducing food poverty and waste. Oh and spices; I love spices.

I expressed an interest in the project. I sent an email to the late, amazing incredible powerhouse of awesome that was Hilary Hughes. Hilary quickly became someone I classed as a mentor and cheerleader for my work. I mean I’ll  be honest. The majority of those that do not work in the Arts associate painting, clay work and all other traditional mediums as Art. Pottering around in your kitchen thinking up ways of using up cauliflower stalks don’t really show up on their artsy radar.  I expressed to Hilary that I only knew how to work with food and words so couldn’t see how I would fit in with the project. Hilary responded with “food and words are just what I was hoping for from you”.

So, many will be thinking, how can food be art?
Well, who defines what is art?

It’s being creative. It’s sharing. It’s expressing your passions and your ideas. Why not food?

Words. I don’t think I can remember a single day in my life where I have not used words. They are powerful. That was the beginning of my research and development piece around the quote. 

As soon as I read the quote I was immediately drawn to food poverty and wastage. 

Above are some of the artsy creations from FareShare/ Landfill destined food, created and documented by Alliyah Dawud.

I struggle to throw any food in the bin. And don’t get me started on the plastic food packaging. Or use by dates. During the past nearly two years our nation has seen the use of Food Banks rocket. Food poverty has increased worldwide. Why? There are many reasons but simply put the main one is the cost of living is increasing but income is not. 

I started to ponder why couldn’t I make edible art? Edible art that was made with food that would otherwise become waste. That’s exactly what I set out to do. I planned to create plates of art using those ingredients that would end up rotting in a ditch and produce recipe cards to go along with them. What I visualised down the line (I do get carried away) was large giant posters with images of the food on and asking why were these ingredients going to landfill? 

I  decided I would use a plate as a canvas and the ingredients as my palette of colour. This would be easy I told myself. I can cook. And I know what I’m doing. Little did I know that the more I delved into this subject the more harder things would be as an artist for me. 

As part of the research and development piece we were encouraged to form partnerships and teams to work with. After all what better way to showcase leadership skills right?

I decided to create a list of potential partners I felt my project compliment in terms of their line of work. My list consisted of the local council, food banks and other organisations and even restaurants. I sent email after email. Let’s just say it was an epic fail. I scrapped working with my listed organisations at the eleventh hour and kept it close to home by approaching FareShare and Stoke-on-Trent Mums (if you don’t know anything about these guys look them up they are amazing). The reason I wanted to work with organisations away from the B arts family was in hope that once this project was over the impact would be sustainable in the wider community beyond our own doors. 

So I took on one mighty FareShare bag.

My FareShare bag contained a lot of bananas. I started planning. I spent the next 4 days (with breaks) in the kitchen cooking.  I cooked meals using the items in the bag as well as other pantry staples. I did struggle to create meals from just the items in the bag. I added spices and more often than not carbohydrates. 

I was successful in creating meals around food that was going to go to landfill. 

But with any piece of research and development work I did a lot of learning along the way. And there is so much more I need to research and work on if I want to do something that will result in positive sustainable changes that will impact the cracks we have in society with food poverty. This project highlighted many areas that need to be addressed as a society rather than just an artist. I can highlight the cause. My recipes show how we can use up food that may end up in the bin but there are so many attitudes and habits we must address for sustainability to be created. 

During this time I became not just more passionate about the cause but infuriated to the lack of resources we have to tackle food poverty and waste. Whilst I spent hours in the kitchen creating food, I was able to do so because I had the skills needed to prepare and cook the food to avoid it going to waste.

From conversations I have, it is clear that one major flaw we face is the lack of importance placed on food preparation and cooking via the curriculum as it’s an optional qualification (GCSE). What about the environmental impact of wastage? Is the reliance on Food Banks something we can sustain as a country? 

Since wrapping up my research and development, I have gone on to develop further ideas and have even spoken to my local MP. This quote isn’t just about me; it’s about us. A society. And if something in our society is broken, we fix it.  

Alliyah Dawud