We, here in the U.S.,
live in a land of abundance. We consume as much as we can and throw away the
rest. This “Throw-Away Society” as it has come to be known, proves just how
wasteful we can be. Although there are many areas associated with this idea of
consumerist waste, the largest area I personally struggle with is food waste.
I buy food that I believe I will consume, only to let it spoil before I eat it.
Fruits and vegetables are particular culprits that spoil as fast as they can so
as not to be eaten. The issue is that I shop for only me, myself, and I and
always acquire leftovers. Typical storage containers for these leftovers, such
as Tupperware or single use plastic bags, may prevent cross-contamination between
foods, but they appear to speed up the rotting process of most foods. One new, original
food storage idea that has emerged to prevent fruits and vegetables from
spoiling is the Food Hugger.
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| Image 1&2: Show the shape and function of Food Huggers |
The Food Hugger is an
ingenious gadget that mimics the skin of a fruit or vegetable. It forms a tight
seal preventing any of the juices or moisture from escaping. Air circulation is
prevented and in turn so is spoilage. The other key highlights to the Food
Hugger is that it is dishwasher, microwave, and freezer safe, so it is
reusable. Therefore in addition to battling food waste, the Food Hugger can
also help reduce our use of single use plastics, like storage bags.
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| Image 3: Demonstrates how the Food Hugger works |
The idea of the Food
Hugger was first presented in all its glory on KickStarter back in 2013. It
quickly reached its donation goal and began production shortly thereafter. The
two creators of the Food Hugger, Michelle Ivankovic and Adrienne McNicholas,
have had they fair share of experience in the creative world. Michelle is an
exceptionally talented and decorated industrial designer. Born and raised in
Toronto, Canada, she demonstrated spatial creativity, as described by Gardner, since
an early age. On her website, www.michelleivankovic.com,
she describes a story in which her kindergarten self destroys a toy, only to
reshape the pieces into something else. In addition, she showcases several
other creative designs that she has developed over the years, all of which
demonstrate unique spatial designs.
Adrienne on the other
hand, represents the more grounded and logical creative side of the Food
Hugger. She is associated with the marketing and business side of the product
and her creativity in that area comes from years of experience. These years of
experience would rank Adrienne an expert in the field of marketing by most
standards and thus lead one to believe she is creative in her work. However, an
alternative option is possible in that Adrienne pursues similar marketing
trends making all of her products analogous to one another in some way. Either
way, Adrienne demonstrates a significantly level of creativity in her work.
Although this is not the
first product to try and address the issue of safe food storage, it is the
first to combine the ideas of food storage and spoil prevention in an economic
way. Other attempts like the Debbie Meyer Green Bags,TM failed to
provide an economic and sustainable product because they were simply discarded
after a few uses. I believe Michelle and Andrienne are making the small steps
toward a more eco-friendly planet, starting with food waste.
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This is an interesting idea, however cannot help but wonder how useful it will actually be to replace tupperware and plastic bags. The wonder of the plastic containers and bags is that they are multipurpose and cheap. One container will be able to fit all sorts of food, from left over fruit to soups and other dishes that the food hugger could not hold. Also, it seems like you would need to buy various sizes of the creation in order to fit all the different kinds of foods you would have. It seems limited to round foods such as oranges and apples. I also wonder how it would hold up against a fruit that may not be the ideal shape (such as maybe an oblong apple, you get the idea). Despite these problems, I see a lot of potential for this creative product. The design is good, and if expanded upon, it can potentially replace all other forms of containers that can create waste or cause food to rot early.
ReplyDeleteI think this product is a wonderful idea. As a person who buys a lot of produce, I feel awful when I have throw away food because it has spoiled. I feel so wasteful. Also, I did not know that Tupperware helped food rot faster and that the leading cause of food spoilage was due air circulation. I hope that they make other Food Huggers for other foods that do not fit the standard sizes they have now, such as herbs.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. I definitely resonate with you that many of my fruits and vegetables go to waste, but I also wonder how useful this will actually be, as Usama said. I think if the product really does work well, it could be revolutionary in changing food waste. But, at some point, fruits and vegetables do spoil. I wonder how long the product is guaranteed to keep food edible and if it worth the cost if it's not much longer than ziplocs and tupperware. I also think it's interesting how you presented the two women--both of their brains are necessary for the success of the product, but they have different uses.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! I would love to try these out for my own food. I hate when I have to throw food away because it goes bad too fast.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an awesome idea. I know I waste so much produce and plastic bags especially when I live and cook on my own. I have seen these before but it was definitely interesting reading more about them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this! As someone who is perpetually worried about food waste as i think it is one of my roommates and my highest methods of wasting food. While I agree that plastic containers are more affordable and usable, the food hugger does something unique in that it provides reusable storage/seal for odd shaped vegetables in particular. I find that half-eaten tomatoes and peppers often get lost in the fridge, only to be found once they've gone bad, and it is also easy to forget that you stuck food in a tupperware container, especially since we use them so often. Although this might not be the perfect solution to food waste, I think it is a very creative way to preserve produce while keeping it at the forefront of our fridges. It's something that would get carefully placed on a shelf as opposed to thrown in a produce drawer, buried beneath bags of apples and carrots and other veggies.
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