Food for Thought App

The Food For Thought app was truly terrifying, but in the best way possible. Originally formatted for 55 inch multi-touch screens, the app helped students learn important information about climate change in terms of the food they eat, and helped students learn to interpret data. It was on the iPad app store for a few years, allowing for a wider range of users to witness the growing impact humans have on the environment.

Food For Thought was designed by Emma Mercier, along with the interdisciplinary research team from the CoLearnLab, with the project funding coming from the Illinois Campus Research Board, Arnold O. Beckman Award, and the University of Illinois College of Education’s Santee Research Funds beginning in 2015.

Mercier is an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at Illinois . She is also the program chair for the Digital Environments for Learning, Teaching and Agency program, which provides both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Other team members were Susan Kelly, LuEttaMae Lawrence and Kelly Cole.

Before the app was even downloaded, users could peruse the official website of Food For Thought to learn about the toll our daily habits take on the world. It explains that the term ‘carbon footprint’ refers to all of the carbon released into the atmosphere through our own activities, as well as the production of goods we consume, like clothes and food.

Similarly, ‘water footprint’ is introduced as the amount of water we drink, do household chores with, and shower with. Plus, the website describes the idea of ‘virtual water,’ which is included in our water footprint, but represents the water that we use but never actually see, such as the water used to produce the food we eat. This type of water makes up 2/3 of our water footprint!

The app itself was extremely interactive yet incredibly simple; when users opened it, they were prompted to drag various food items onto a virtual plate. When this was done, easy-to-read data popped up on the screen, showing users the food’s water footprint, carbon footprint, calories, and cost per serving size. The user could then switch out each type of food with another, permitting them to compare the data points of each food item.

While these hypothetical food combinations are definitely useful to know about, the real value comes from students inputting the food choices they make in real life. By doing that, they can learn exactly what type of influence they’re having on the environment, making room for conversations about climate change and food in general.

It also helps students learn about analyzing data. The team completed a study on how students were able to use this app to learn how to read data. They found that students working with data they could relate to (what they eat) helped them to have conversations about complex data. This app can serve as a model for other apps to display data using concepts students are familiar with.

In 2019, the Food For Thought app won two first place awards at the University of Illinois Engineering Open House, emphasizing the utility and merit of the learning tool. As of December 2022, the app is no longer available.