Every time that we come to the supermarket, we are faced with an army of vegetables that are identical to each other. Every apple is the same red, and every zucchini is the same length. Despite this uniformity, we carefully scan boxes of fruit in search of the perfect one. However, the satisfaction vanishes when the tasting reveals a flavourless fruit. Throughout history, we developed a strong aesthetic preference for food, and this leads the consumer to buy more visually appealing options, closer to their aesthetic expectations. Fruit and vegetables have been modified to meet our aesthetic expectations, creating increasingly strong canonical images in our minds. Thus, the apple must be completely red and shiny, and oranges must all be the same size. The Different does not even reach our supermarket shelves. Furthermore, the norms and aesthetic preferences contribute to significant food waste because they are considered “unsuitable” for their appearance. In Italy, for instance, 20% of produce is normally discarded – under optimal weather conditions, and this figure can rise to as much as 70% in years that are affected by severe weather events.
A milestone in our history is the advent of agriculture. Agriculture allowed us to domesticate plants and settle in various places around the world. The domestication of plants marked the first step toward human-made cultivation. Art enables us to observe anthropization throughout history. In the past, nature was often depicted in artworks known as Still Life. Still life is an artistic category that includes compositions of flowers, animals, fruit, vegetables, spices, beverages and, rarely, people. Many artists, whether for study or commission, have painted still life. This type of artwork provides valuable data to researchers. From still life paintings, researchers can gather information about the depicted subjects and the societies of that time.
When researchers study a still life, they can identify which species are depicted in the painting, along with their scientific names and varieties. Moreover, it can reveal the geographical area and, as a result, provide data on the fruit and vegetable trade of that time. It is also possible to determine the season the artist painted the artwork, considering that, during those periods, annual and non-seasonal production of fruit and vegetables, as we have today, did not exist. Without photographs of some periods, art is used as a documentary source. Using scientific illustrations, I compared a vegetable in two different phases, from the past to now. Scientific illustration is a medium that can reveal invisible things, changes, and relationships within our society. Through the use of art, it is possible to observe the difference between the chromaticity and how it has changed over time as adaptations to the societal influences and environment. For these reasons, I included a colour focus for each vegetable to show the colours of the skin, pulp or seeds. Understanding the differences between past and present is valuable knowledge that can transform the way we perceive vegetables and their characteristics. Recognising these changes is crucial to understanding our history and how we view food in our fridges, helping us make more informed and conscious choices.
About the contributor
Valeria Chiarini is an artist and researcher working at the intersection of art, aesthetics and food science.
The original pages
As published in Issue 3: Empowered in Science. Click any page to view it full size.
First published in Issue 3: Empowered in Science, the Innately Science newspaper.