Key Problems
Organic waste breaks down and releases methane with 28 to 36 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Australia loses $36.6 billion annually due to food waste. Households waste 50% of this amount. Families with children tend to waste the most.
The Problem With Awareness
Australia has many food campaigns. Although education is an important leverage point, it has been largely ineffective. Why? Because we target everyone. Stanford's Essentials of Social Innovation argues: target your audience as narrowly as possible, create compelling messages with clear calls to action, develop a theory of change, build a solution to action.
People do not plan to waste food. Systems make it easy to forget its value.
Target Audience: Children
How might we use different pedagogy techniques in children above age 6 to promote food appreciation and comprehension? Instead of focusing on food waste, shift the mindset to appreciation and love for food. Three principles guided the approach: child-centred design, constructivist pedagogy, and play-based learning.
Concept: HungryBuds
A board game designed to simulate a world without supermarkets. Each player must grow their own food, manage limited resources, and complete recipes from scratch. By removing convenience, the game reveals the effort behind food production and the consequences of waste.
How to Play
Draw a Food Card
Each player draws one food card showing the recipe they need to complete.
Plan and Buy Seeds
Players buy seeds and items using money tokens from the market area.
Plant, Water and Wait
Players plant seeds on the community garden and water their crops.
Unpredictability Cards
Weather changes, pest infestations, and floods add real-world complexity.
Harvest, Cook and Feed
Once the timer completes, players harvest, cook, and feed the family.
Impact
By playing HungryBuds, children gain a deeper understanding of food production and develop appreciation for the hard work behind getting food from farm to table. Serious games can be a powerful new means of communication to effect changes in social behaviour.
Reflection
Awareness alone does not change behaviour. Experience does. Systems shape habits more than intention. Designing for children can influence entire households.
