MindBurst Food for Thought: Discover the Science Behind Food at Mind Museum

Have you ever wondered why apple slices turn brown after being cut? Or maybe you'll ask why popcorn pops? Why does chopping onions make you cry? Well, believe it or not, a less charming but more scientific explanation exists.

Actually, there is a lot of fun and educational science to be found in the kitchen. So it's time we dig the science of food. Do you play with your food? Maybe you should. When we eat, we don't know how the food is made as well as the chemistry and science behind it, we just eat and know it tastes good. However, we must also take time to explore the science of food we eat and its connection between the planet's health and our personal eating habits. We can start at home by simply experimenting in our very own kitchen.

Or better yet, discover how a pinch of curiosity can improve your knowledge about food at The Mind Museum's MindBurst: Food for Thought.

In case you missed it, Food for Thought happened last June 23 at The Mind Museum, the first world-class Science museum in the Philippines.  With a vision to become the center for the public understanding of science, the museum organizes monthly “MindBurst” events to show that Science is engaging and accessible to all. 

It was one huge food fair from 12:00-6:00 pm. There are several food booths bursting with fresh, succulent, home grown flavors where you can easily browse and buy healthy gourmet and specialty products. You can also take your knowledge of food to the next level by visiting the Science Bites interactive stations.

Some of the exhibitors are the following: The  Collective's favorite grocery store Ritual was there, Sugarleaf, Milea Farms, Gana Vida, the Juice Barista, Moveable Feast, Kape't Buhay, Milea Bee Farms and more. Visitors could buy everything from organic honey, sukang Iloco to at the Loudbasstard bamboo speaker. On each booth, you will know how they help to reduce its ecological foodprint in simple ways.

Some of them are the ff:

• Composting
• Raw materials make use of the 3Rs: responsibly sourced, recyclable and renewable.
• By recycling glass bottles which can be recycled endlessly into other glass bottles.

Here are some of the changes you can make to your food choices (healthier choices) to reduce your environmental foodprint:

• Buy locally produced food and eat less beef, and pork.
• Eat out at restaurants less often.
• Drink fewer soft drinks.
• Eat seasonal and local fruits and vegetables.
• Eat fewer packaged snacks and junk food.
• Upgrade to an energy efficient refrigerator.
• Drink less bottled water.
• Walk to your local farmers market or grocery store.

I sampled a vegetarian mushroom burger with cheese, tiramisu pots, banana turmeric chips, cookies and brownies made of mango kernel flour, mango kernel tea, 18 Days freshly roasted coffee and the yummy Picole milky pop!

I was able to watch and actually learned a lot as Pinoy foodie Nancy Lumen-Reyes did a hands-on demonstration on how to preserve food. She talked about food preservation while the geniuses aka Mind Movers explained the science or "rationale" behind it.

The Mind Movers thoroughly explained why some food and cooking amounted to scientific methods and painstaking processes like denaturation, oxidation or altering the interactions between molecules, and how temperature, acidity, salt content and physical manipulation of ingredients all played a role.

At the Moveable Feast, you can take a journey from farm to table with a tasty experience of the slow food process.  Learning how to decode your food and measuring how big your "FOODprint" is a MUST.

A foodprint is the environmental impact of food or the ecological footprint the human diet leaves behind, including the amount of land required to sustain a diet, the amount of carbon dioxide produced, if the food is organic, and if it is local. As for me, I think my carbon foodprint is relatively small as I live a locavore’s diet. However, the speaker, Jenny Pascual, the founder and curator of Moveable Feast, encouraged us not just to become "locavores" or local eaters but to go organic and to explore new food that is economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Those who were able to bring their own reusable food containers and utensils won special raffle prizes! Check out the video of this month's Mindburst: Food for Thought event.


Ticket Prices:

Php 750 : All-day museum pass and MindBurst
Php 150 : MindBurst event only

Celebrate the diversity of taste and the aesthetics of food, and take a fascinating look at the world we eat. Don't miss the next MindBurst coming this July!

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