Wasted: An Evening of Food, Film and Performance to Investigate Food Waste

Food waste represents a significant problem for the sustainability of our food systems and the environment. The stories behind food waste in Guelph have the potential to generate interesting and needed dialogue within the community. University of Guelph graduate student, Carly Fraser, and the Community Engaged Scholarship's Practitioner-in-residence, Georgia Simms, sought out a creative way to engage researchers, policy makers and community leaders in a conversation to shed insight into the personal side of residential food waste problems and connect these stories to systems-level food waste perspectives. The evening that they designed involves a soup social, a film screening, a performance and an opportunity for semi-structured conversations. The event demonstrates possible approaches to arts-based knowledge mobilization and community engagement, and is itself is a form of knowledge mobilization, promoting face-to-face interaction and connection among researchers and community leaders in Guelph-Wellington. The focus on artistic products and processes raises awareness of this type of engagement strategy and highlights the potential of arts-based approaches in academic and civic contexts.