As a reminder to “eat your daily recommended dose of color,” Tattfoo Tan, an artist whose work “seeks to find an immediate, direct, and effective way of exploring issues related to the individual in society… Through the employment of multiple forms of media,” developed the Nature Matching System as a public art project in New York City. The Nature Matching System (NMS) was conceived in an effort to spread awareness and promote the health benefits of eating colorful fruits and vegetables.
NMS —Nature Matching System was developed by Tattfoo as a reminder to consume your daily recommended doses of color. The shades of color displayed at farmers’ markets are more than skin deep, reflecting the inner potential of every fruit and vegetable; intense colors might even be called nature’s nutrition labels. They get many of their colors from phytonutrients, compounds that play key roles in health and reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer. The more colors come together at a meal, the better. Sadly, marketers of junk food apply the same technique used by nature to pollinate seed to their nutrition-deprived product. Color is a device that can do good or be deceptive and ensure the pollination of unhealthy eating habits. The colors on the placemat shown below are all actual food colors, taken from photographs of various fruits and vegetables. Match your meal to the placemat—it is truly a rainbow connection.
Disposable Paper Placemat
Mural at Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York
NMS Mural in DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York
NMS Fruit Labels
NMS Matching System Legend
NMS is a unique color that cannot be matched to other colors, but the below legend is the closest matches to Process Color, Pantone Matching System and Behrs Paint.
Artist Recommended Resources:
What Color is Your Diet? by David Heber, M.D. published by Regan Books
Super Foods by Michael van Straten and Barbara Griggs
Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T044200.asp
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/
More about the project:
