Food Art for the Needy

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 16, 2007 at 3:31 PM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

Andy Warhol proved that Campbell Soup cans can be art. San Diego architects and students are going a step further: they're building giant-sized lunch boxes, pancakes and other creations using tens of

Food Art for the Needy

Andy Warhol proved that Campbell Soup cans can be art. San Diego architects and students are going a step further: they're building giant-sized lunch boxes, pancakes and other creations using tens of thousands of canned foods. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce tells us the cans are for needy families.

The competition is called Canstruction. The goal is simple: to collect food for needy families and have fun along the way. Thousands of cans of beans, potatoes, soup and more are converted into art, from boats to movie characters. Charlene Alsbaugh is with San Diego's New School of Architecture and Design, which sponsors the project.

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Alsbaugh : We have -- total in this building right now -- about 35,000 cans, and our goal is to raise about 50,000 cans. So in addition to the structures that will come up, we ask the public to come in and then donate additional canned goods. And then, one of our sponsors, USA Federal Credit Union, actually has barrels in their sites.

Ed Joyce : And where do these cans go from here?

Alsbaugh : Once they leave here, they'll be on display for a week -- and once they leave here, they go to Home Front San Diego, which supports military families. And then the other half goes to Step-Free San Diego, which supports families through drug rehabilitation programs.

She says the finished projects can be viewed through next Saturday at the New School's F-street location in downtown San Diego. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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