Take a look at the image that can be seen just above. How about? It could be a snapshot used in a cookbook or food magazine, right? You may need to look at it more closely to see that something doesn’t quite add up. Spoiler: This is not a photo of food , but of things made with plastic.
The Microplastic series is a project launched by the Copenhagen Zoo and Sweet Sneak Studio , a communication and marketing agency specialized in food branding, lifestyle and gastronomy. While the second takes different clients dedicated to ecological and sustainable food, the Danish zoo wanted to show the dangers that single-use plastics pose for all species. So they both joined forces.
Microplastic is a collection of images created in order to raise awareness of the impact that the indiscriminate use of plastics (and their ingestion) has on humans, but also on animals. Somewhat cartoonish photos are used with foods of all kinds in order to show that there is what seems palatable at first glance hides something toxic behind. A full day was dedicated to the photo shoot.
“In general, the goal of the work we create in our agency is to make beautiful and delicious images that stimulate desire and appetite,” they point out from Sweet Sneak. “For the message of the Microplastic series, we wanted to return to the idea that food was generally something aesthetic and beautiful at first glance, but then surprise the viewer when they took a closer look.”
In the series, which was exhibited at the Danish zoo last year, you can find things like sushi rolls wrapped in garbage bags, a honey jar filled with confetti, a beer cane that instead of having foam is covered with Styrofoam balls, a waste-filled water bottle, and even a couple of oysters stuffed with cling film. The photographs have a very advertising and clean style.
Microplastics as part of the menu
According to a study carried out by the University of Heriot-Watt, based in Scotland, and collected by the journal Enviromental Pollution, in each meal we eat, we would ingest an average of 114 microplastics. These would come from synthetic fabrics and soft furniture that would gradually decompose them before becoming part of household dust. Dust could fall into food and become part of food.
In total, the study estimates that each person can get between chest and back just by eating at home between 13,731 and 68,415 microplastic particles each year. Another study conducted by the Canadian University of British Columbia indicates that each American can ingest and breathe between 70,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles annually.
This work shows that plastic pollution is not only common in the marine ecosystem, but it is also something common that is also present in the terrestrial world and, particularly, in our homes.
