Eating evolves.
Have you ever looked through a cookbook from 1952? That was 60 years ago, but holy cheese ball they ate things I’d never make now!
Looking at the way I eat today versus the way I ate just 15 years ago astounds me. Can you imagine how differently we will be eating by 2050? Think about extended lifespans, a growing population, and limited resources/farmland.
Gourmet magazine wrote an interesting article titled what “We’ll Be Eating in 2050.”
From rooftop farmers to an English-teacher-turned-entomophagy-advocate (yup – that means eating bugs), Gourmet left no row un-hoed.
There are actually 2 farm styles highlighted:
- Ben Flanner and Annie Novak founded a rooftop farm, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, and oversee the Brooklyn Grange. That grange is a whole acre in Long Island! No, rooftops can’t feed all of Africa… but they might one day feed your condo!
- Back at the conventional ranch, co-director and senior farm policy analyst Mark A. Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute sees us at a crossroads: the industrial, genetic engineering style of growth and the recent trend toward organics, local foods, farmers’ markets, and CSAs.
Side note: what was he thinking posing for this?!
Chefs will also play a role. With the rise of the “celebrity” chef, opinions like Jamie Oliver’s are being heard more and more loudly. Not only to food “activists” like Mr. Oliver influence the way we think about food, they impact our habits.
Think about it: if the only fast-food/restaurant cuisine available was fresh and healthy, that’s how society would be accustomed to eating. As much as I hate the burger trend, it’s nice to at least have a “clean” grass-fed alternative to McDonald’s questionable patties.
Some of our beloved bioengineers are of the opinion that we can just grow meat. Morris Benjaminson, of Zymotech Enterprises, is working on growing meat from cow muscle with his “muscle-protein production system.” Hmmm… that’s a burger I’ll pass on.
Lastly, the one you’ve been waiting for…
Dave Gracer the English-teacher-turned-entomophagy-advocate, probably wouldn’t be the most popular teacher handing out lollipops with larvae embedded and making sandwiches with bread fabricated from cricket flour (is that gluten-free?). Yes, we’ve all hear of chocolate-covered crickets… but somehow I don’t see that delicacy breaking through in the Western world.
Gracer does highlight the fact that insects are high in protein. You guys know how I love my protein…
Gourmet didn’t get any dirt when they contacted Kraft, General Mills, and Frito-Lay to inquire about the existence of departments specializing in futuristic food ideas. Too bad – I want to apply for THAT job! I’d be the inventor of a healthier, squash-version of Tang!
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I do believe we are going to have to make some changes to have a sustainable (and natural) food supply. I’m not sure what that will look like… but I’d like to think the rooftop farmers are on to something.
What do you think about how we’ll eat in 2050?
More importantly, would you ever eat an insect? Even if it was chocolate-covered? 🙂
