Cuisine Consumption Art

The David Meldrum Food Illustator Project is an unsual and artistic commentary on food consumption and nutrition. The English graphic designer, who is also known as The Food Illustrator, has kept a diligent record of everything he has eaten and drunk for an entire year, but he did not use a journal of his words. Instead, Meldrum created 365 detailed illustrations of his food choices by drawing his every meal in a sketchbook he kept on him at all times. David used a variety of artistic tools such as acrylic, collage, watercolor, pen and ink to create his illustrations.

The Food Illustrator began on June 15th, 2010 and ended exactly a year later on June 14, 2011. According to Oddity Central, "The result was a shockingly realistic food diary of an average person’s diet, with 1,360 consumed cups of coffee, 305 pints of Peroni lager, 122 Freddo chocolate bars, spaghetti, salads and McDonald’s fast food." While David is not the first to use art to comment and observe nutritional patterns (Morgan Spurlock used film to document the dangers of American fast food consumption in the celebrated film 'Supersize Me'), the commitment and attention to detail required for this kind of art is one-of-a-kind.

Implications - In an increasingly health-conscious world, consumers are driven to healthier lifestyles not by statistics and facts, but by headlines, images, art and media-centric means of getting the message across. Artists, filmmakers and others who use these creative means to deliver information in an effective and captivating manner reach a broader range of consumers.