open call for “food fight!” exhibition

The MSU Museum CoLab Studio is seeking proposals for Food Fight!, an exhibition and public programming series that explores issues related to food security, production, and sustainability, and the social, environmental, political, and economic relationships human beings have with food.

Food meets a fundamental human need. Like shelter, sleep, and other physiological needs, if this need is not met, we won’t survive. This dependence on food makes it something that can be controlled, a factor that, when manipulated by governmental and corporate policy, contributes to global inequality and stress on the environment. Further, as climate change continues to add pressure to food production and distribution, creating a sustainable, equitable food system grows increasingly challenging.

At the same time, our approaches to growing, preparing, and consuming food provide an avenue for creativity, imagination, and community-building. Shared experiences around food often bring people together and play an essential role in shaping our communities, traditions, and cultures.

From the way culinary practices influence and shape communities and cultures, to struggles for food security and the design of our food production and distribution systems, our individual and collective relationship to food is complex and constantly evolving. As technology continues to advance and we face increasing pressures on our environment, what will the future of food and our food systems be like? How does the implementation of certain agricultural practices help eliminate the ever-growing pressures on the environment? What kind of influence does our personal relationship with food have on our interactions with others?