CoDiet at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2024
On 15-16 June, the CoDiet project took part in the Great Exhibition Road Festival (GERF), a two-day extravaganza of all things science and art taking place in South Kensington, London. The annual festival welcomed over 50,000 people across the weekend to enjoy hands-on workshops, fascinating talks, performances and installations from iconic museums, research and culture organisations, including Imperial College London, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A.
The CoDiet project was appropriately located in the Future Food Zone, exhibiting both a stall and taking part in Future Food Live.
Future Food Live was a series of 45-minute live cookery demonstrations, of which CoDiet hosted one, that brought together chef, Jethro Carr and CoDiet team member, Isabel Garcia-Perez to discuss innovative technologies used in the project whilst making some yummy and healthy recipes (check them out here). In preparation for the demo, Jethro trialled a healthy and unhealthy diet and had his urine analysed by Isabel to experience some of the CoDiet technologies. The results of his analysis were shared with the audience on the day!
Dr. Isabel Garcia-Perez and Prof. Gary Frost hosting a Future Food Live session
The CoDiet stall, RoboChef vs Disease, was a fun, colourful and informative experience for members of the public, from young children to older adults, to engage with some of the innovative technologies used in the project, as well as children having the opportunity to unleash their imagination through a creative activity.
The activity was led by RoboChef, a character designed to help children engage with key themes of the CoDiet project. The activity involved children spinning a colourful wheel and completing a quick challenge (e.g. do a little dance, do 5 star jumps), then selecting a task from a lucky dip (invent a new vegetable, create a healthy snack for RoboChef or invent a new technology for RoboChef to work as efficiently as possible).
Children were invited to draw their creations on a paper plate and after testing their communication skills by sharing their creations with RoboChef, they were hung on the stall for everyone to enjoy! By the end of the weekend, 500 plates had been decorated and displayed – check out some of them below!
Futuristic creations at the RoboChef vs Disease stall
Members of the CoDiet Consortium with RoboChef at GERF 2024
Children participating in activities at CoDiet’s RoboChef vs Disease stall
The weekend was a wonderful experience that allowed many enthusiastic and interesting conversations about CoDiet to take place. We already can’t wait to be back at the Great Exhibition Road Festival in 2025!
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