Dundalk Library to Host VR Safefood Workshop

The County Library in Dundalk has been selected as one of 10 venues across the island of Ireland to host an interactive “Appetite for Change” exhibition from October 22 to October 28, 2026, featuring a virtual reality workshop designed by Safefood to examine how the food environment shape teenagers’ food choices.

Free Dundalk Library Exhibition Highlights Healthy Food Environments

The free public exhibition runs alongside a multimedia advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness about food environments that are heavily saturated with marketed, unhealthy options. The displays were developed following a series of community conversations across the island, capturing local visions for healthier food surroundings through illustrations created by award-winning artist Steve Doogan.

Visitors to the Dundalk Library installation can share their perspectives on local food options by completing an interactive survey. This questionnaire is also accessible online via the organization’s main web portal.

Immersive Virtual Reality Workshops for Students

Alongside the exhibition, Safefood is hosting specialized workshops featuring a first-of-its-kind virtual reality experience tailored for students from Coláiste Rís and Gaelcholáiste Dhún Dealgan. Engaging directly with teenagers about their daily food environment yields critical data to inform upcoming public health policies.

The technology was built in collaboration with the Dublin City University Institute of Business and Society, under the leadership of Professor Tim Hubbard. Within the custom VR supermarket simulation, students move through pricing structures, promotional displays, and product placements while researchers track what captures their attention and how they react.

Explaining the wider public health context, Dr Joanne Uí Chrualaoich, CEO of Safefood, stated: By connecting with our network of libraries and bringing our Appetite for Change exhibition to a wider audience, Safefood is continuing to drive the national conversation about the food environment. She added: The spaces in which we live, work and play all influence the food choices that we make, so it’s important that we all get to share our views on what needs to change to create a better food environment that supports healthier eating. I’m encouraging people to take our survey as will it help us build a picture of what needs to change in our food environment.

Addressing the multifactorial nature of adolescent nutrition, Dr Aileen McGloin, Lead for Nutrition at Safefood, noted: Food-related ill health in both adults and children remains one of the greatest public health issues we face, and the food environment is recognised as one of the main causes of the global obesity problem. She further observed: We want to hear a wide range of views on the food environment, so our workshops give teenagers a chance to share their perspectives. Furthermore, Dr McGloin pointed out: The food choices of teenagers are shaped not only by what is available, but by friends, family, school, money, time and the digital world around them. Using a VR experience will help us to understand what it feels like to make food choices within the environments teenagers move through every day.

Detailing the technological application, Prof Timothy Hubbard PhD, Professor of Management at the DCU Institute for Business and Society, stated: Virtual reality gives us a unique opportunity to place young people inside a realistic food environment and explore how they respond to the choices and influences around them. He concluded: This initiative with Safefood is an exciting and new opportunity to explore the food environment using immersive technology, so that we can better understand how factors within the retail environment shape what people notice, remember and how they respond.