BETTING ON FARMERS
WHAT WILL THE DAIRY FARMER OF TOMORROW LOOK LIKE?


DOCUMENTARY ARCHIVE




MILK POWDER EXPERIMENT
In a time where
philosophers, scientists, and other brilliant minds chant our entry into the
Post-Labor era, we wonder what it means for the farmer. Farming is as old as
the Stone Age and the backbone of our societies. This practice has already seen
a lot of changes so what could happen next? By encountering diverse
stakeholders of the dairy industry, we asked them to focus on the human factor
: the farmer. This documentary is an investigation into our current
transformations of Dairy Farming and how the profession will evolve in the
coming years. We investigated in the Netherlands and in India, both key players
of milk production in Europe and in Asia to get a broader picture. Betting on
farmers presents a 6 months research and numerous encounters with farmers,
professors, innovators and designers while confronting their opinions and
ideas.
LINK TO WRITTEN ESSAY
LINK TO WRITTEN ESSAY
From the aftermath of surproduction
during World War II to the hyper competitiveness of today’s global market, milk
is at the center of unreasonable way of consuming and producing. This leads to
approximately 840 millions tons of excess fresh milk produced each year. In those bowls made
only with milk powder (heat-pressed into molds) we addressed this topic to both
producers of excess and consumers. The bowls appealing look was meant to
trick the public: on the surface, a beautiful and sustainable object that
re-uses waste and excess material. But if you scratch deeper and reflect on the
amount of energy needed to produce these objects, its absurdity stands out. It
also was a way to explore the material’s properties and its chemical reactions.
Product design and documentary project by Yarden Colsey, Louise Gholam and Julie Abraham (2018).
Documentary archive photography Julie Abraham
Milk powder experiment photography Louise Gholam