The Eat Me project by Talk Nature

Can plants speak? The project «Eat me» lets the plants do the talking with a little help from communication design.

Drawing on the framework of plant blindness (Wandersee and Schussler, 1999) and design activism (Fuad-Luke, 2009; Julier, 2013; Markussen, 2013), our study inquiries into how to raise awareness of the important plants around us through the use of design and communication. The project uses the term “plant blindness” as a theoretical backdrop. Wandersee and Schussler (1999) describe plant blindness as the inability to notice plants in one's environment, inability to recognize the importance of plants in human contexts and believing that plants are somehow inferior to animals.

The "Eat Me" project is a series of events, by the reseach group "Talk Nature", aiming to raise awareness of local plants in general through information about the abundance of edible wild plants.
The events use several means of communication:
• Edible plants in the area are designerly marked with the possibility to scan a QR-code to learn more: The plant itself speaks to you.
• A delicate outdoor dining table presents dishes made from local plants and encourages people to scan the QR-codes to get recipes.
• Tastes of things that can be made from the plants around us are provided.
• And finally we are encouraging a quick survey of people´s awareness about plants in general and specifically local edible plants.
The survey gives the participant information about his/her own knowledge and also gives the research group important information.

The responses to our survey has confirmed what we assumed; that most people are not aware of the possibilities of the plants around us or have knowledge of what can be eaten. We have also learned that many people were interested in trying food made from local wild plants and wanted to learn more about how they can be used.

So far, we have carried out "Eat Me" events twice. The first time on Mushroom Day at Sognsvann near Oslo together with Sopp og Nyttevekstforeningen and the second time at Researchers Night organized by Kristiania University College.

The artistic research group Talk Nature consists of Annette Krizsat, Lene Utigard and Margaret Rynning. We use our expertise within communication and design to raise awareness about issues concerning plants and vulnerable nature.

Fuad-Luke, A. (2009). Design Activism: Beautiful Strangeness for a Sustainable World. London: Earthscan.
Julier, G. (2013). “From Design Culture to Design Activism”. Design and Culture 5(2), pp.215-236.
Markussen, T. (2013). “The Disruptive Aesthetics of Design Activism: Enacting Design between Art and Politics.” Design Issues 29(1), pp.38–50.
Wandersee, J., & Schussler, E. (1999). Preventing Plant Blindness. The American Biology Teacher 61, pp. 82-86.