September 9, 2013 Jennifer Akerman: Food as a Designed Thing

Jennifer Akerman, adjunct assistant professor in architecture, has the idea to develop an “urban food corridor” in Knoxville. Her students have been going to various places, including Asheville, to learn a variety of urban farming techniques.

They also have been using sites in Knoxville to understand and design various spaces, buildings, and environments that are multifunctional places; they serve one function while also producing food. One example: a student designed a brewery in which the building completely grows its own hops. Local food growing is more sustainable than industrial food systems and processing.