18th September 2014

Food lovers with an eye on design and latest technology are in for a tasty treat this week with a host of events showcasing the future of food.

WHAT: FoodCHI 2014
WHEN: 9am - 5.30pm, Fri Sept 19 + Sat Sept 20
WHERE: QUT Gardens Point Campus + Saturday Farm Tour

Are you interested in food culture? Do social media enhance or hinder our food experience? How do you create an urban foodscape that is healthy, sustainable and socially inclusive?

International and interstate speakers will join local experts to put their ideas into edible form.

There will be a tour on Saturday morning which includes a visit to a Brisbane's family living "the good life" in New Farm. They source 70 per cent of their food from plants grown in their rented unit.

There are plenty of opportunities to investigate the root of food culture and how to provide stimulating dining discussions not just about the stomach.

QUT researchers Dr Jaz Choi, Professor Marcus Foth and Professor Greg Hearn have recently had their book Eat, Cook, Grow: Mixing Human-Computer Interactions with Human-Food Interactions published by MIT Press in the United States.

September Friday 19th
QUT Gardens Point D-Block Room 214

9-9.20am Welcome and Introduction
Dr Jaz Choi & Professor Marcus Foth from QUT Urban Informatics Research Lab welcomes delegates to FoodCHI 2014.

9.20 - 10.10am Keynote speech
Indigenous leader Seith Fourmile (Gudju Gudju) is the key speaker of the event. His ideas are behind the concept of Abriculture which aims to design native food ecosystems through the knowledge of tribal ecologists.

10.10 - 11am
Eat Cook Grow Book Launch + Morning tea

September Saturday 20
FoodCHI will take a day trip to urban farms in inner Brisbane and to the city's north.

9.30 - 10.30 SpurTopia visit @ New Farm
The Spur family source 70 per cent of their food from their rental property. They will open their doors to FoodCHI and the media. Dr Roman Spur will share practical and inexpensive ideas for sustainable living and growing organic food. Dr Jaz Choi is also available to speak about the culture behind sustainably grown food from home.

The tour then heads to not-for-profit community funded Millen Farm which is exploring sustainable organic growing techniques in urban farming. Lunch will be provided in Samford. Food Connect's Pim Mens farm in the Glasshouse Mountains is the next stop. Food Connect founder Rob Pekin will give a short talk on creating a sustainable food future.

More information about FoodCHI 2014 is available here: http://foodchi.urbaninformatics.net/

Media contacts:
Debra Nowland, QUT media officer (Tue/Wed/Thur), 07 3138 1150 or media@qut.edu.au or Rose Trapnell, QUT media team leader, 07 3138 2361 or 0407 585 901.

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