THESIS Process Book by hanna dice

SENIOR CAPSTONE 2020 HANNA DICE

INTRODUCTION

I’m Hanna! I used to work at a local, family-owned, farm-to-table breakfast restaurant located in the heart of an upscale residential area in Knoxville, Tennessee. Before Covid-19 hit our area, we were a family, determined to make our customers happy, learn from our mistakes, and grow as individuals. Most of the employees working at this restaurant were college-aged students, focused on getting a degree and moving on to do great things. To say the least, it was a safe-haven environment. However; I had noticed something I could not stop myself from thinking more into.

After working there for more than a year, I decided to base my senior thesis project on the issue I was very determined to learn more about: restaurant food waste. In the mornings before opening the restaurant, the kitchen staff and barista would be working on getting the food and coffee prepared which entailed slicing fruits, veggies, meats, and getting the eggs ready to be fried. I noticed that the food scraps from this process were being thrown out - so much so that it would fill up a whole trashcan! At closing time, I noticed a few similar happenings: we weren’t able to keep biscuits, gravy or anything that wouldn’t be fresh for brunch service the next days ahead. (To be clear, this issue is happening within every restaurant, not just the one in which I worked). I knew this issue must have a solution, so that is what I focused on finding. Throughout this book, you’ll see my process.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMPONENTS

ABSTRACT 09 DESCRIPTION 11 DESIGN BRIEF 13

ABSTRACT

There is too much food waste being generated from restaurants. Recycling unused, unserved food is necessary in order to end not only waste production but also wasted energy, time, and money. This project intends to educate and create awareness for customers, restaurant owners, and employees about the possible opportunities to help slow down waste production. This project also intends to create a bridge to connect local restaurants and the community with their local gardeners, farmers, and nurseries.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

From time-to-time, people eat at restaurants. Restaurants serve as a place to socialize, eat, get out of the house, etc. They are a great place for catching up with friends, gathering family you haven’t seen in forever, or meeting with clients and colleges. With all that talk, one issue that isn’t spoken about enough is food waste in the restaurant industry. Not the food wasted simply from one not finishing the meal on their plate, rather the food wasted at the beginning and end of the restaurant’s business day. Much of the waste accumulates from food scraps, improper food storage, and large portion sizes. So, what’s the solution?

My proposal includes a service that

will collect the unused, unserved food

scraps from local business restaurants

in Knoxville, TN and create compost to

be sold to local farmers, gardeners, and

greenhouses.

DESIGN BRIEF

OBSERVATION There is too much unserved, uneaten food being thrown away in Knoxville’s small business restaurants.

ARGUMENT / PROPOSITION Recycling unserved food in Knoxville’s small business restaurants is needed to end waste production.

RESEARCH “US restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste each year.” From : “Food Waste Is a Massive Problem-Here’s Why.” FoodPrint, foodprint.org/issues/the-problem-offood-waste/.

“About 1.3 billion tons of edible parts of

way to recycle leaves and other yard

food for human consumption gets lost or

waste.”

wasted globally”

From: “The Composting Process.”

From: Sustain Magazine

Composting in the Home Garden Common Questions, web.extension.

“Food waste is now the No. 1

illinois.edu/compost/process.cfm.

material that goes into landfills and incinerators.” Because food rots so fast,

AUDIENCE

it generates methane really quickly

Local restaurants, farmers, gardeners

(Methane is a greenhouse gas that’s 20

and greenhouses

times more potent than carbon dioxide, which takes part in climate change.)

AUDIENCE VALUE

From: Jean Schwab, Sr Analyst in the

Soil created from composting food

waste division at the EPA

scraps in order for crops to grow stronger and healthier.

“By adding organic matter to the soil, compost can help improve plant growth and health. Composting is also a good

WHAT IS YOUR INTENTION WITH THE

EXPERT INTERVIEWEE

OUTCOME?

Charlotte Rodina, Co-Director of

To assist / educate

Beardsley Farm. Beardsley Community

KEYWORDS

Farm is an urban demonstration farm located in Knoxville, TN.

> Waste - eliminated or discarded material that is no longer of use after

ANTICIPATED DELIVERABLES

the completion of a process

> Desktop website

> Compost - organic matter that has

> Mobile application

been decomposed through the process

> Cycle of process info-graphic

of composition

> Pickup/drop-off truck

WHAT THIS PROJECT IS NOT

> Bucket for food scraps and soil > Packaging for compost soil

This project is not an extensive

> T-shirts

exploration on how to end the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

> Hats

food waste issues.

> Gardening gloves

PROCESS + METHODOLOGY

OBSERVATION 19 INTERVIEW 22 STATISTICS 25 PRECEDENTS 31 DESIGN PROCESS 35 DESIGN OUTCOME

OBSERVATION

There is too much unserved, uneaten food being thrown away in Knoxville’s small business restaurants. After working in the restaurant industry, I noticed a substantial amount of unserved food being wasted. “Approximately 4 to 10 percent of food purchased by restaurants is wasted before reaching the consumer.” (“Food Waste Is a Massive Problem-Here’s Why.” FoodPrint.) Whether it be improper food storage, food scraps, large portion sizes, or overproduced food, there is a massive need for a solution to end food waste production in the restaurant industry.

INTERVIEW

I wanted to gather information on whether or not there was a need for compost soil within the local gardener and farmer community.

Charlotte Rodina Beardsley Farm Co-director

From what I understand, food waste is now the No. 1 material that goes into landfills and incinerators, and because food rots so fast, it generates methane really quickly - Does compost also create that methane gas? Compost does not produce methane gas, since there is plenty of oxygen getting in there. This is why it is important to flip compost, so air can circulate. With a landfill, all of the waste just sits in a big pile and it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get turned over, so methane gas is able to be produced.

What are some items that your garden needs and wants in a compost pile? (Do you need/want some items over others?) Our compost is a 50/50 ratio of “green” and “brown” materials. Green materials include fruit and vegetable scraps (our only limitations are not too much citrus or coffee grounds). Brown materials are things like dry leaves and straw. We also add in our unbleached paper towels from hand drying as a brown material. We also add in egg shells, but this is the only animal product we allow. Only industrial compost systems are set up to be able to take things like meat, dairy, and fish.

Is this idea something you would be interested in?/ Do you even need/want more compostable items for your garden? This idea is interesting to me. Beardsley used to pick up compost from restaurants like the Tomato Head, but we no longer have enough spare time to do that. Sometimes restaurants will drop off compost to us, and we are happy for those relationships. We are currently speaking with Kat, owner of Green Heron Composting (a new business that picks up compost and delivers it to farms), about getting some of that compost delivered here. If it works out, we will set up another compost system and have two going at once.

STATISTICS

US restaurants generate an estimated 22 - 33 billion pounds of food waste each year. *

* See bibliography (65)

1.4% 14.3%

of that food is recycled

of that food is donated

84.3%

of unused food is thrown away * See bibliography (65)

Food waste in the U.S. costs the hospitality industry over $100 billion annually. *

Food scraps and yard waste together currently make up more than 28% of what we throw away.*

* See bibliography (65)

THERE ARE 3 MAIN NUTRIENTS IN SOIL

NITROGEN

POTASSIUM PHOSPHORUS

AFTER FARMING, THE SOIL LOSES A LOT OF THESE NUTRIENTS

COMPOST CAN HELP:

BRING BACK NUTRIENTS TO SOIL

REDUCE FOOD WASTE

PRECEDENTS

As you can see, there is an obvious need for a solution to this rising issue. I decided to research some companies already working with compost in Knoxville, TN.

Green Heron is located in Knoxville, Tennessee. This company picks up compost from homes and delivers it to local farms and gardens.

Green Heron focuses on collecting compost from your home, not dissimilar from a recycling company gathering your recyclables from your curb.

DESIGN PROCESS

mish mash mash

mish

Logo design iterations

mish

Logo design iterations

mash

mash mash mash

mash

mash mash

mash

Logo design iterations

hitched hiker

JOINT

O.G.M. horticulture hikerÂ collective

joint collective

hiker

organic matter.

hinged hiker HINGED HIKER

hitched hikerÂ

collective

organic matter.

hitch HIKER

the Funk? Name and logo iterations

After a long and difficult design process, I chose the name MishMash because of it’s relation to what compost is - a mixture of organic matter. Merriam-Webster defines mishmash as “a confused mixture” or “hodgepodge” or “jumble”. The design represents what compost can replenish in the soil, it starts out barren (the stroked text, mish) and then becomes full and vibrant (the filled text, mash). MishMash hopes to replenish the Earth, connect communities and save people time and money with compost that could have been sitting in a landfill somewhere, creating methane gas.

Website beginning stages

Application beginning stages

OUTCOME

Logo

Color Palette

#000000

#FFFFFF

#ED2324

#F9EED9

Tyopography

HEADER Lexenda Peta Regular ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789!@#$%^&* BODY Lexenda Peta Regular ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789!@#$%^&*

Style guide

Graphic Elements

Patterns

I wanted to go with a natural color palette that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t resemble what someone would normally see for something being marketed as â&#x20AC;&#x153;organicâ&#x20AC;?. For typography, I chose a more modern typeface, to appeal to a broader audience. I chose to feature cut out images of vintage-type elements to tie back to our roots and to realize farming and composting have been around forever, this might also be nostalgic for some of our older audiences. Finally, the patterns are to be reminiscent of crop fields/rows, where the MishMash compost soil might end up.

MISH MASH

KNOXVILLE LOCAL RESTAURANTS

KNOXVILLE LOCAL FARM

MishMash Process

MISH MASH CREATES COMPOST SOIL

KNOXVILE LOCAL GARDEN GREENHOUSE

Mishmash focuses on a full circle idea: farm to table and then back to the farm. It starts with the farm, where the crops are grown for people to consume. Next is the table, where the farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s food is prepared and served to consumers. The idea is that the restaurants would set aside food scraps in the bucket provided. Then, Mishmash comes to collect the unused, unserved food scraps and takes them to be composted. Finally, once the food scraps decompose and become compost soil, it goes back to the local farms, gardens, and greenhouses.

Application Design

This is the application I developed to help facilitate the process discussed on pages 46-47. If you were a restaurant in need of a food scrap pickup, you could go to the application and set up a time for Mishmash to come pick it up!

The application also contains a profile page which allows you to change or update your information as well as a frequently asked questions page. The pricing of compost soil is broken down as follows: First, customers can either purchase a bulk order delivery where mishmash delivers compost soil to your location. The soil is measured by bucket (one bucket equals 10 gallons), so a bulk order delivery of 4 buckets would be around $80.00 + delivery fee. Second, customers can choose to do a bulk order pickup where the customers can come to our location and purchase the soil in bulk. Lastly, customers can purchase bags of the compost soil either on-line, or at our location. Additionally, customers can browse the locations of the local farms and gardens with whom we are connected.

Application Design

The â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is compost?â&#x20AC;? page takes you through the process of composting for those who are unfamiliar or wish to compost on their own.

Compost Soil Packaging

mash

Bucket and T-shirt Design

mishmash.com

Food Scrap Pickup + Soil Delivery Truck

>> next page

Website Shop Page

Mishmash would also have posters located above restaurant kitchen trashcans in order to help the kitchen staff identify which items can be included in the food scrap bucket. These posters could also be available for customer purchase.

Restaurant kitchen poster

TNERSHIP W R IT PA

mash EIS IT

C TI

CO N

VISIT MISHMASH.COM OR DOWNLOAD THE APP

NG CO

MishMash partnership stickers

mishmash

mash How Does Your Garden Grow? Product / Service Mish Mash collects unused, unserved food scraps from local restaurants and turns them into compost! mishmash.com/ 1741 Reynolds St, Knoxville, Tennessee

mash

For further incentive for restaurants, they would have MishMash partnership stickers on the front windows to show customers their interest and involvement in the community. The Instagram page might include photos of gardeners, farmers, and restaurants happily in connection with MishMash.

My final review was held on-line and in

That being said, MishMash ideally would

front of three business professionals

connect with small business restaurants

who were eager to give me advice on

(like farm-to-tables) to further customer

how to move forward and how to think

incentive to dine at that establishment,

about if this were to become a business

which would give incentive to continue

in the real world. One big question they

the relationship with MishMash.

were stuck on was “What would be the

Another question that was asked was,

incentive for restaurants to be involved

“How would you determine the quality

with MishMash?” One goal MishMash

of the food scraps provided from the

strives for is to build connections

restaurants?” Moving forward, I would

between farmers, restaurants, and the

like to have some sort of plan to ideate

community. Farm-to-table restaurants

how that process would work. That might

are already in close connection with the

include an employee going through each

farmers who grow the crops for them,

bucket to make sure each food scrap is

for reasons to prepare fresh food and

usable, or something similar.

gather communities who want to be apart of that process.

REFLECTION

Overall, working on this thesis project taught me how to think about a project on a more in-depth scale, from a business and design perspective. Will it be feasible? Does this design system suit my concept? So many different aspects go into building a brand from the ground up. A global pandemic in the midst of the end phases of this project surely didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help the difficulty of bringing this project to its full potential, but it has taught me about how to think about how design can be used in a time like this. How would my company be processing a pandemic such as this one? There are so many things to think about. Moving forward, I wish to contemplate how to go about finding a solution for the question of the quality of the food scraps and if restaurants need more incentive.

MOVING FORWARD>>

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barclay, Eliza. “For Restaurants, Food Waste Is Seen As Low Priority.”

NPR, NPR, 27 Nov. 2012, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/11/27/165907972/

for-restaurants-food-waste-is-seen-as-low-priority. “The Composting Process.” Composting in the Home Garden

Common Questions, web.extension.illinois.edu/compost/process.cfm.

“Food Waste Is a Massive Problem-Here’s Why.” FoodPrint. Hollis, Matthew S. “3 Food Waste Technology Trends That Should Be on

Your Radar.” Hospitality Technology, hospitalitytech.com/3-food-waste-

technology-trends-should-be-your-radar. “Rethink Food Waste.” ReFED, www.refed.com/?sort=economic-value-per-ton. SmFootprintFamSmallFootprintFamilysmallfootprintfamily, Dawn Gifford,

et al. “100 Things You Can (and Should) Compost.” Small Footprint Family™,

29 Nov. 2019, www.smallfootprintfamily.com/100-things-you-can-compost.

Speight, Zelda. “Composting 101: A Beginner’s Guide.” SUSTAIN THE MAG,

SUSTAIN THE MAG, 28 Feb. 2020, www.sustainthemag.com/food/composting-

101-a-beginners-guide.