Jul 24, 2014 6:30 AM

Gallery: These Weird Meals Are Actually Clever Data Visualizations

Ferran Val
01
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Sugarsm: "Each sugar blob stands for a different technique how people reach the climax, with the amount of sugar representing its percentage of mentions in an informal survey among Facebook friends."
Ferran Val
02
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Requiem for Science: To tackle defunding in the sciences, two cakes were baked. One used advanced, scientific techniques; the other didn't, and used less sugar, proportional to the science cuts. The difference was easy to taste.

Ferran Val
03
food-1
Unemployed Pan con Tomate: "This edible area chart shows the huge increase in youth unemployment in a traditional “Pan con Tomate” (bread with tomatoes). With unemployment rising over time, the amount of tomato decreases, making the bread hard to eat, as the garlic overpowers."
Ferran Val
04
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Xarxes de mel i mató: "Doesn’t the internet make everything sweeter? These dishes represent the amount of internet use in – honey! Only 27.6% of people in the age group of 65-74 use internet in Spain, but 99% of the 16-24 year olds. Using a food printer, a network graphic was printed with honey on top of each portion of mató representing the percentages in the amount of honey used."

Ferran Val
05
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Tortilla Feliz Catalana: Two tortillas represent well-being in Spain. One shows Spain's ranking on a number of Better Life Index categories; the other shows how important citizens think those topics really are.
Ferran Val
06
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"This dish represents the amount of homeless people in Barcelona, comparing summer (the big loaf) and winter (a considerably smaller one, not pictured)."

Ferran Val
07
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These rice paper dumplings compare sexual activity between couples and singles. The amounts of sesame and salt on top indicate the frequency of sexual encounters of the different groups.
Ferran Val
08
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And these explore how often men and women are sexually active on the first date. With blue standing in for men and pink for women, the ball of noodles is those who get down and the non-touching noodles are those who don't.

Ferran Val
09
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This dish explores noise pollution, the salt representing a consistent 75 dB level on the maker's street. "Like with salt, a little noise is enriching, but too much of it is hard to ignore and ruins the most beautiful dish."

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