Whole Local Slow: Exploration of the Complex Relationships between Food Systems, Bodies, Economies, Ecologies, Cultures

Since the turn of the 20th century, the industrial economies of the West have tried to radically simplify what were previously complex food systems in the name of efficiency and plenty. While the assembly line model has enabled far more growth and choice than was possible in traditional systems, we are discovering that the loss of that complexity has disastrous results for the health of our bodies, our environment and our culture. With ”Whole, Local and Slow,” we will creatively explore through multiple research modalities and presentation formats the foundations of this crisis and investigate ways to restore this enriching complexity to the soil, to the markets, to our tables and to the chaotic and balletic chemical reactions we call bodies.

Whole Local Slow is the first recipient of the Arts and Humanities seed grant co-sponsored by the Institute for Humanities Research and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.