Supermarket Departure: An Urban Community Center for Food Education

Abstract

This thesis explores the exchange of food not only as a commodity, but also as knowledge, manifested in a community center for food education in Seattle's Central District. Over the last century, the industrialization of the American food system has resulted in a dramatic increase of the scale of food production and distribution. The modern supermarket operates as a segregation of functions, made possible through a lack of transparency - deliberately hiding the origins and processing of food from consumers. As participants in this chain, we propagate the intense impacts it has on the environment, the economy, and - most importantly - our own health. By restoring the lost intimacy between city residents and the foods they eat in the modern supermarket, consumers can begin to make educated choices that shorten the food chain and break the wall of ignorance that resides in our current food system.