What is 'food design'? The discipline for designing the food of the future

Imagine a kitchen utensil designed to make the most of leftover vegetables, a new food product created from bread scraps, or a redesigned school cafeteria that generates less waste and offers healthier menus. All these ideas have something in common: they are examples of food design, a discipline that applies design thinking to the world of food.

Far from being limited to the aesthetics of a dish, the food design It addresses everything surrounding food: from food production and processing to how it is distributed, consumed, and waste managed. The goal is to rethink the food system to make it more sustainable, efficient, and inclusive. In Catalonia, this discipline can already be studied through the degree in Design for Food Systems at Elisava, the Barcelona Faculty of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC), and CETT, Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy (UB), which trains professionals capable of connecting design with gastronomy, technology, and sustainability.

“The food system is one of the main culprits behind the climate crisis, social inequalities, and public health issues,” says Cristina Taverner, dean of the Faculty of Design and Engineering at Barcelona Elisava (UVic-UCC). For this reason, she argues for the need to train professionals capable of addressing these challenges from multiple disciplines. “We need hybrid profiles that can work simultaneously in ecology, culture, economics, and gastronomy, and redesign the food chain in a fairer, more circular, and inclusive way,” she continues.

What do students learn?

During the degree, students work on real-world challenges related to contemporary food systems. The program combines knowledge of design, gastronomy, and technology to analyze the entire food value chain, from production and processing to distribution, consumption, and waste management. "We understand the food design "such as the ability to read and redesign the entire food value chain: production, processing, distribution, consumption and waste management," explains Cristina Taverner.

In practice, this translates into a wide variety of applied projects. Some involve redesigning local food systems to analyze a product's journey from farm to fork and identify critical points in logistics, communication, or governance. Others focus on creating new food-related products, utensils, or services, as well as developing digital tools or gastronomic experiences that improve people's relationship with food.

The degree also incorporates circular economy projects that aim to give a second life to food byproducts or waste, transforming them into new products or business models. Students also work on redesigning school cafeterias, hospitals, or nursing homes to make them healthier, more sustainable, and more inclusive. "They carry out projects that can range from redesigning a local food system to creating new products or gastronomic experiences that connect sustainability, culture, and technology," Taverner adds.

Labor demand is on the rise

"He food design "It has a growing demand and generates very diverse career paths," the dean points out. One of the most obvious is the design and product industry, where they can participate in the creation of new foods, utensils, packaging or user experiences for brands, food companies, or design studios. Opportunities also exist in the restaurant and hospitality sector, where graduates can contribute to restaurant concept development, innovation in food services, or improvements in the dining experience. This range also includes consulting in sustainability and food innovation, as well as communication and the design of gastronomic experiences. The Bachelor's Degree in Design for Food Systems joins Elisava's educational offerings, which also include a Bachelor's Degree in Design and a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design Engineering.