Growing awareness of a mouldy problem

Aucklanders were able to see the growth of mould in real time thanks to an innovative advertising campaign made possible by Manaaki Whenua researchers.

Senior mycologist Dr Bevan Weir worked with technician Diana Lee to create several giant agar plates measuring a metre in diameter that were affixed to billboards around the city as part of a campaign to highlight the extent of household food waste.

The plates were inoculated with a mould fungus like that found in blue cheese.

“I chose this organism as a very safe fungus to use. It is considered a Generally Recognised as Safe, or GRAS, food additive by the American Food and Drugs Association. The agar was PDA or Potato Dextrose Agar, just boiled up potatoes, sugar, water, and agar,” says Bevan.

Advertising agency TBWA’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign billboards carried the message that households waste more than $3 billion of food every year by not eating it before it goes off. The agar plates were placed over images of bread and oranges giving passersby a close look at what happens to all the wasted food in our fridges.

People were able to see the mould growing in real time across the agar plates.

As part of the campaign, Bevan, or the ‘mould man’ as he’s affectionally become known, was also invited to give the staff fridge in the Seven Sharp studios in Auckland’s TVNZ building a thorough inspection, and advise viewers what was still good to eat and what should definitely be headed to the bin.