It is important to question the dualistic value
system in order to initiate radical systematic
change and thereby positively alter our future.
I seek to do this by uncovering, visualizing
and questioning our relationships with,
and interdependence on, other life forms,
as well as our relationships with the natural
and urban environments around us. This is
also called relationships between humans
and non-humans. I look at the effect of climate
change, human activity, and globalization
on these underlying relationships and how
I might positively affect them.

My subject of research, and my medium for
expressing these ideas, is food and its future.
I therefore define myself as a “gastronomic
futurologist”. Food is one of the fundamental,
everyday human needs. As such, it largely
defines the way we live, build our physical
or social space, communicate and create culture,
and our relationship with the natural world.

Through “speculative gastronomy,” I want to
act as a catalyst for a collective redefinition
of our relationship with our food. I believe
that the ecological crisis we face is a result
of our culture rather than a problem that
can be solved with economic, technological
or scientific advances. My desire is to encourage
imagination for alternative visions of the future
in relation to what and how we eat. I accomplish
this by creating and serving up what-if scenarios.

Design can act as a vehicle for human aspirations
and as such I believe that food design and
speculative gastronomy is uniquely positioned
to initiate social change around these issues.
I want to form a critical design that offers an
alternative to how things are, and I want to
inspire a new generation of food professionals,
as well as other (food) designers and creative
thinkers, to participate in the discussion
and co-creation of a future in which we would
all actually like to live.