Chromizone: Harnessing the Power of Art to Increase Public Understanding of Healthy Food Systems

Background: Although public health science has made great strides forward during the last six decades, the public has not entirely accepted it’s achievements as evidenced by the negative outcry toward health legislation, vaccines, and dietary recommendations.  This shortfall in public understanding could be due in part to a lack of artistic and creative vision within the contemporary science community.  Art offers the potential to infuse scientific data with meaningful context so that people will be more likely to assimilate ideas into cultural norms. 

Program background: Chromizone combines the disciplines of art and science to create an interactive, graphically dynamic teaching tool that will allow people to visualize their place in the food system in order to improve public understanding of a highly complex but urgently critical public health issue. The goal of the program is to get the public to understand their place in the modern food system, how it be improved to promote health and motivate them to support policy change that will transform such that it promotes health instead of disease.

Evaluation Methods and Results: Models of the Chromizone artwork were evaluated using individual in depth interviews and written critiques of scientists and members of the target population to ensure its resonance with the scientific community and the general public.  Participants revealed they found the Chromozone informative and a transformative means which can educate the public about food and nutrition.

Conclusions: The favorable feedback the prototype has received from the target population indicate, this project will serve as a tool to champion a healthy food system as a social movement by engaging public health workers, policy makers, businesses, advocacy organizations, and the public through a user-friendly educational interface where individuals and groups can define their own role(s).

Implications for research and/or practice: This project demonstrates how to engage a target audience to develop innovative health education and communication interventions and how to use innovative communication methods to disseminate effective prevention messages.