2013 Biomimicry Challenge Design Brief
Design Challenge Theme:
Team Icarus The Problem with Food Deserts
Currently, in urban and rural areas there is a disparity of resources, especially in low income neighborhoods. Lack of access to affordable, healthy food creates what’s called a “food desert.”
Geographic areas where access to affordable, healthy food is virtually non-existent. As a result, these communities are exposed to avoidable diseases and illness due to malnourishment or heavy intake of fatty foods.
More Time Spent There is more time spent traveling to places with access to afforadable, healthy foods, than the national average.
Increased Risk Must travel MORE THAN ONE MILE to receive healthy food.
Bridging the Gap
Our design OPTIMIZES the distribution of resources in a shared living environment.
Our design is supposed to address the issues of food deserts--particularly, the methods in which the transportation of these resources to impoverished areas--to solve them utilizing cues, systems, and patterns nature uses.
Food deserts have a direct correlation to our nation’s obesity epidemic which increases the risk of poor health.
We need to ask nature important questions of how they nourish, distribute and economize resources as this will aid in the development of our solutions. By biologizing our focus, we are better equipped to observe the right elements.
Potential Life Principles Works Cited: “Transforming Food Deserts and Swamps to Fight Obesity.” Blumenthal, Susan M.D. Blackwood, Kristy. Huffington Post 2013
Biomimicry 3.8 | Prof. Regina Rowland | SDES 490 Fall 2013
Ameer Carter / Ben Breslow / W.T Warmoth / Akshay Shinde / Andrew Farmer