London Food Exhibition: Mouth-watering show at the Victoria and Albert Museum

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A must-see exhibit at London's Victoria and Albert Museum is making people think about where our food comes from and where it will, or could, come from in future. Kitty Logan has this report.

It's all about food. But not the kind of dishes you might be familiar with. This new exhibition at London's famous Victoria and Albert Museum, commonly known as V&A, has some unusual items on the menu.

MAY ROSENTHAL SLOAN EXHIBITION CO-CURATOR "This is primarily a contemporary art and design exhibition, looking at the modern food system, how it operates and how artists and designers are using their creative energy and imagination to rethink how we might have a food system for the future, which is more sustainable, fairer and fundamentally more delicious."

The exhibition is called, "Food – Bigger than the plate." It has contributors from all over the world, all with a similar message.

FERNANDO LAPOSSE EXHIBITOR "I really hope that visitors that come to the exhibit can appreciate the fact that we have options in terms of what we can eat. That if we go to a supermarket, we only have a very narrow window of opportunity of crops that we have out there."

Fernando is a furniture maker – working with specially- developed native Mexican corn husks instead of wood.

What his work also shows is that there is more than one type of corn.

FERNANDO LAPOSSE EXHIBITOR "It's also about trying to stress the fact that we're losing a lot of diversity of crops in Mexico. All over the world in general. But Mexico is a good example of how we had a really good wealth of crops."

And thanks to his initiative, traditional varieties of corn are now being reintroduced into local communities.

KITTY LOGAN VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON "Exhibitors here are hoping to open people's minds as to how we source, produce and consume food. In a world of ever-shrinking resources, with climate change affecting crop production, the intention is to encourage the public to rethink how they put food on their plate."

Visitors are urged to explore their local area for fresh produce. Even in one of the world's largest cities.

KATHRIN BOHM ARTIST "What we're really keen to show is that if you change the production cycle slightly, maybe you get more out of London then we can all become growers, producers, brand specialists."

Inspired by traditional 1950s hop-pickers, Kathrin makes juices from produce gathered in London's public spaces.

KATHRIN BOHM ARTIST "We have very kind of familiar drinks like elderflower soda, that's elderflower picked in Barking, we have more unusual drinks like Japanese knotweed which is completely drinkable and edible."

And if all that leaves you needing a bathroom break, look no further. There is even an eco-friendly toilet, designed to save the world's most precious resource – water.

VIRGINIA GARDINER CEO, LOOWATT "The way the world is evolving, water scarcity is increasing. By 2025, 66 percent of people will be living in water-stressed areas. So, there is a future for non-sewered sanitation closer to home than we might think."

But food is also pleasure and organizers are hoping visitors will enjoy seeing the show.

MAY ROSENTHAL SLOAN EXHIBITION CO-CURATOR "Come with a sense of possibility and fun and playfulness. There's a lot of serious material here about the realities of the food system today, but a lot of the artists and designers who have collaborated with chefs and farmers and activists and scientists have done so in a really playful and exciting way."

Of course, the only way to know if you like a new type of food is to try it. The exhibition opens May 18th. Kitty Logan CGTN London.