The Campaign

At first glance, they are 6 identical white plates. When held, it is clear that the weight of the plates are all different. The weight of the plates are actually, “The weight of food one person from 6 different countries wastes in a week”. By not showing the amount of wasted food visually, but having them experience it through weight, we created an educational tool in the shape of plates that heightening the awareness of food and had children think deeply about the problem, changing their meal time behavior.

Creative Execution

It was essential to create surprise and discovery when holding the plates that look identical at first glance, but weigh completely different due to country. We designed the plates so that the maximum weight and the minimum weight would be supported within the same plate design to make it look identical and carefully adjusted the weight at the bottom of the plate. On the side of the plate, we created dents in the shape of a child’s hand as if it is holding the plate, designing it so that children will want to hold it themselves.

We distributed the plates to kindergartens and held classes that had children experience the different weights of the plates. We created an occasion for children to think about why the plates weigh differently, even though they all look exactly the same. By flipping the plate over, children were able to see the significance of the weight. And by showing children the state of left-over food around the world, it became an educational experience where children became strongly aware of the preciousness of food that they and their family’s consume everyday. These plates will hopefully be used all around Japan in the education sector, to teach children the preciousness of the food we eat.

This work is a new tool for educating children on the preciousness of food, through the innovative use of an everyday object that children are familiar with, and associate with food.