Savor: A workshop for helping beginners to improve their eating habits
Northeastern University | Experience Design | 2021
How might we encourage people to develop a ‘flexitarian’ diet
I become more curious about why we know many nutritious foods but it is still difficult to decide to eat less meat or become a vegan. This study emphasizes exploring people’s interest in various aspects of the transition period, to a variety of diets - especially flexitarian - and providing them practice tools through a "Savor" workshop to improve their awareness and maintain these diets over the long term.
INTRODUCTION
Background
The double blow of the pandemic and natural disasters has posed a serious threat to the global food supply.
Scientists predict that the global population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 (Elferink & Schierhorn, 2016), which means that the world’s food production will have to increase by up to 70% to meet the demand. (Hunter et al., 2017)
The gold medal for best 2021 diet went to the Mediterranean diet for the fourth year in a row, according to rankings announced by U.S. News & World Report. The second is Flexitarian diet.
RESEARCH
What is Flexitarian?
Flexitarian
flexible + vegetarian
The Flexitarian Diet was created by dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner to help people reap the benefits of vegetarian eating while still enjoying animal products in moderation. (Streit, 2019)
The diet emphasizes flexibility – you don't have to stick to any rules all day. Depending on your activity level, gender, height and weight, you can tweak the plan to allow for slightly greater or fewer calories. And follow the Flexitarian Diet at your own pace, which is very personalized but scientific.
Why We Choose Flexitarian?
Although people know which foods are more nutritious, it is still difficult to become a vegan or vegetarian. Even 84% of vegans return to eat meat.
Macro: Environment
Environmental: Recent research shows that agriculture and the livestock industry is the third-largest generator of greenhouse gases, right behind transportation.
Ethical: The meat and dairy industry are quite notorious for the mistreatment of animals.
Financial: Food prices are rising around the world. But vegetables are still generally cheaper than meat.
-ism: Whilst there is a lot of worth in both vegetarianism and veganism, it can be surprisingly difficult to cut meat and dairy out of your diet. A study found that 84% of vegetarians and vegans eventually return to eating meat.
Developing Countries: Despite the trend in eating plant-based “meat,” global consumption of meat is still on the rise, driven in part by countries like China and Brazil which saw a massive increase in recent decades.
Micro: Health
Health: Flexitarians have been found to not only have lower BMIs than full-fledged carnivores but also are at a lower risk for type 2 diabetes and have lower mortality rates Trusted Source.
Weight Loss: Its research shows that flexitarians are 15% slimmer than meat-eaters, and their life expectancy is 3.5 years longer on average.
Effectiveness: In a different study, after following a flexitarian diet for just four weeks, the total cholesterol levels of the participants dropped almost 20 points—and LDL (bad cholesterol) dropped almost 15 points.
Paradox: A vegan diet is no guarantee of a good diet unless the only goal is to avoid killing animals. Sugar-sweetened beverages, French fries, and doughnuts can all be vegan.
Advantages: help animals, slim down and become energized, be healthier and happier, help feed the world, save the planet.
I found that the Flexitarian Diet might be a good transition period, which is to eat less meat.
HOW
Research Question
What factors influence people's decision to eat or eat less meat?
How might we encourage people to develop a ‘flexitarian’ diet?
How might we help these people keep new eating habits?
Decision-Making
What factors influence people's decision to eat or eat less meat?
What influences our food choices?
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Biological determinants such as hunger, appetite and taste
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Economic determinants such as cost, income, availability
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Physical determinants such as access, education, cooking skills and time
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Social determinants such as culture, family, peers, and meal patterns
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Psychological determinants such as mood, stress and guilt
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Attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge about food
Why is it hard to be a vegan?
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The hardest part of vegan cooking was learning how to do meal planning.
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Shopping is very different.
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There are some challenges with vegan options for non-food items, too. You’ll have to read fabric labels carefully for animal products.
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You have more control over what you eat at home than what you can eat in a restaurant
"Savor" Workshop Framework
INTERVIEW
Which Group
I found that the main determinant is health, followed by the environment such as change position, and other factors include the perception of price bias. Most people think that vegan food is very expensive, but in fact, vegans often go to the farmer's market so they save a lot of money. Interestingly, even if people who used to be a vegan return to eating meat, the frequency is very low.
Group 1
People who pursue healthy diets and have the potential to become vegetarians.(2 interviewees)
Group 2
People who used to be a vegan.(2 interviewees)
Group 3
People who are experienced vegan.
(3 interviewees)
The main factors that start a vegetarian diet:
1. Health factor: keep in shape, doctor’s advice to reduce fat
2. Economic factors: When prices are lower
3. Skill factor: Not good at cooking
4. Other: Religious factors (since young)
Reasons to give up:
1. Internal personal factors: weight loss achieved, the temptation of meat
2. External environmental factors: change work/living environment, dissuasion from family members
The main factors that decide to stay vegetarian:
1. External environmental factors: religious beliefs, community influence, doctor's advice
2. Internal personal factors: personal willpower (goals to be achieved), protecting animals, belief
PERSONA
My persona is about a Beginner: Peter, a 30-year-old programmer who is busy with work but loves cooking. Recently, staying up late and eating irregularly have caused him to gain weight and even affect his work. He thinks it's hard to start because of too many things to research about vegetarian diet, and it is difficult for him to stick to it without someone's advice and supervision.
CASE STUDY
Social Activities: Cooking
What COOKING can bring: (Individual)
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Feelings Of Accomplishment
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Exercise Your Creativity
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Patience
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Connect With Others
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Improve Your Relationship With Food
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Get Organized
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Get Healthier
What SOCIAL COOKING can bring: (Collective)
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Group Activity
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Shared Appetite
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"Behavioral Activation" Overcome Depression
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The Altruism Of Cooking For Others
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Family Times
Social Activities: Games
People's joy of gameplay does not wear off with age. The card game as a traditional family game not only can boost memory skills, reduce stress, but also promote socialization and help build relationships.
I hope to use another way to arouse people’s interest in a plant-based diet. Games can not only increase the knowledge of nutrition but also build a friendly community.
Knowledge game: Trivial Pursuit / Trivia 360
Pictionary Game
Food Puzzle Games
Power of the Social Media
There are articles suggesting that social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and youtube have a great influence on people's decisions. There are radical vegetarian/vegan bloggers that influence people's views on vegetarianism and spark discussion.
I hope to use the power of social media to spread the correct information and reduce misunderstandings. Just like these interesting food teams Good Mythical Morning, my game inspiration also comes from these videos.
“Eureka” moment (Aha moment)
Can you taste color?
Is this pet food or human food?
PROTOTYPE DESIGN
1. Pictionary Game: Food Card Game
Three groups chose the easiest lobster. The first group didn't paint but only described the most famous seafood in Boston. The other two groups drew two different lobsters. They all guessed it right, but it took a different amount of time.
Everyone is very satisfied with their partners. They are often surprised by the wonderful performances of their partners. Through this kind of communication and interaction, the relationship between everyone will go further.
2. Trivia of Taste (TOT): Blindfold Food Test
It can also be seen from these sketches that different people have different preferences, but even if they choose the same food, they will have different taste cognition.
Participant A
Participant B
Participant C
Participant D
3. Zoom Cooking
We all enjoy the process of communication while waiting and chopping, but most people think it takes more time to prepare than imagined.
CONCLUSION
The value of this workshop is that it‘s an auxiliary tool that can help these beginners find the direction and provide an environment to keep new eating habits.
To be continued...
DESIGN
High-fidelity Design
