Wearable Synesthesia
About:
Food Reformers is a non-profit organisation (NGO) based in Kolding, Denmark and was founded in May 2019 by Iben Østergaard Fog and Svetlana Petrova.
The organisation aims to challenge, inform and broaden the knowledge about food waste and its implications on our environment. Food:RE:Formers is addressing the problems through a participatory approach, by involving and encouraging citizens and businesses to take action against food waste and overconsumption.
As a response to the problems, Food Reformers is taking action by creating social events and advocating for reducing food waste. We are an active part of Kolding’s cultural- and student-life and have created a social network, both in between the over 60 volunteers in the organisation and with our many collaboration partners.
We do this by:
SOCIAL DUMPSTER DINNERS | ADVOCATING
CO-CREATION WORKSHOPS & TALKS | EDUCATION & RESEARCH | VOLUNTEER MEETINGS | SUPPORTING CLIMATE EVENTS & ORGANISATIONS | COLLABORATING WITH & CONSULTING LOCAL BUSINESSES
... AND MUCH MORE
All the goods we work with at our events are always surplus food, which is donated by our donors. We follow the national guidelines for hygiene and food standards. We rarely throw out food, which shows that almost all of the food which was supposed to be thrown away is still perfectly edible.
So, we really do have a food waste problem!
From Kolding Green Street Market
Events in Food Reformers
In Food Reformers we have several events for everyone who is interested in how to reduce food waste and create social engagement in Kolding.
Some of the events are:
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SOCIAL WORKING DAYS
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SOCIAL DUMPSTER DINNER
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VOLUNTEER MEETINGS
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SURPLUS GIVE AWAY
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WORKSHOPS
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TALKS
AND SEVERAL COLLABORATIVE EVENTS WITH OTHER SUSTAINABLE ORGANISATIONS IN KOLDING
Video by Daniel Bodnar
SOCIAL WORKING DAY
Concept:
At our social working day, the volunteers gather each half a year to evaluate and discuss the organisation's vision and mission. In Food Reformers we value each volunteers' opinion and think it is essential that everybody feels welcome. We try to realize each volunteers' ideas and supports them to evolve their skills and knowledge together with the organisation.
At the working day, we also have time to work on bigger projects and practical tasks.
During the day we always eat surplus food together and have time to socialise with each other.
We are located at Bygning 5 - Nikolai, where we also host our monthly volunteer meetings.
SOCIAL DUMPSTER DINNER
Concept:
The Social Dumpster Dinner is Food Reformers' most popular event which gathers all three core concepts in the organization:
To create awareness about food waste, community building with social encounters and to empower education.
The event follows a framework with guest speakers, an interactive discussion and data collection and a free dinner created from donated surplus food. The event is planned and hosted by volunteers from Food Reformers and Torben from Tobbers Madbar.
The event is always fully booked with up to 60 people attending. Due to Covid-19, the last event had a limitation on 40 people but was fully booked within a week.
The event is often in collaboration with other stakeholders. We use it as a platform for community building and reaching out to young citizens interested in food waste but do not have the time to be an active member.
At the last Social Dumpster Dinner event, the topic was sustainable Kolding and Bioplast, where three guest speakers attended the event. It was followed by an interactive discussion, where the participants were introduced to a playful activity.
The data from the participant's insights are always presented to the relevant stakeholders. At the last dinner, the participants reflected on how they gained Kolding in the future as a sustainable city.
Graphic by Antonia Fedder
Pictures by Nina Park
Video from Social Dumpster Dinner#3: Christmas edition
Video by Robert Orlowsky