One Byte at a Time: Insights about Meaningful Data for Sustainable Food Consumption Practices

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Data have played an extensive role in sustainable HCI research by informing the impacts of our behavior on the environment and helping us make better environmental choices. However, in the area of sustainable food consumption and sustainable HCI, there is little investigation on the roles of food data for the design of technology. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of sustainable-conscious individuals’ food data seeking experiences. Our results show the way in which the current food data is challenging our understanding of its environmental impacts, which concern data of availability, data representations, and data cultures. Drawing from Loukissas’ six critical data principles, we discuss how “locality” and "place" could cast a new insight on food and its sustainability. We also offer possible design directions for sustainable HCI technologies utilizing food data.