Taste for Life is a centre without walls established in order to foster an interdisciplinary, collaborative project with a focus on the flavour of food as a driving force for learning, education, food literacy, and good practice. The overall mission of the centre is to create a basis for a better and richer life for the Danish population.
By engaging with a special team of researchers, educators, and practitioners, the centre both generates new knowledge and utilizes existing knowledge in a close, collaborative effort spanning different disciplines, and working across the country with the concerted aim of seeking out taste as one of the keys for a better life.
The centre deals with taste experiences and acquisition of the knowledge and skills relevant to taste literacy and taste competence; implementation of sensory knowledge and cooking experience in producing positive taste experiences; use of taste as a theme for integrating different scientific disciplines; and taste as a key theme in food innovation and the development of new food preparation techniques.
By integrating taste, learning, didactics and communication, the project focuses on three main areas: sensory sciences and didactics; gastrophysics and the integration of scientific disciplines; and innovation and honing of culinary skills. The various levels of action across these different areas involve raw materials and processes, research and development, cooking and gastronomy, testing and practice, as well as public outreach.
The primary target group of the project is children and young people, as well as those who teach and educate them. In addition, the results of the project are being made publicly available and communicated to the general public using a wide range of means, including the website www.smagforlivet.dk.