Printed, inhaled, capsuled or cultured – like it or not, these could be the food trends of the future…
Insects
Eating insects may soon be a worldwide phenomenon, and no, this isn’t in a dystopian Fear Factor future run by Joe Rogan. This may burst your comfort zone bubble, but bugs are already ingrained into many cuisines around the world, and they’re slowing crawling their way to being an international trend as well.
The fact of the matter is they’re widely available, they easily reproduce, and are often hella nutritious as well. Crickets are already making their way into protein shakes, whilst food trucks and restaurants are introducing insect options all over the place. Even stranger, many people are actually really enjoying the taste.
Once you get past being creeped out, the future looks bright for insects just being another option on the protein list.
Cultured Meat
If a morally guilt-free burger sounds great to you, you’ll be happy to know that science is working towards making that a reality.
The ability to actually ‘grow’ meat in a lab with the use of a bit of animal tissue and tissue engineering is a scientific phenomenon that’s been in the works for several years, and it’s coming closer and closer to being ready for public consumption.
Dozens of labs all over the world are working to develop cultured versions of beef, chicken, pork and even fish, and we wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a big part of our future as long as solid foods remain culturally desirable (more about that later).
Breathables
The days of just breathing and ingesting vitamins, and even alcohol, could be a viable option in our lifetime, and we’re not sure if this is more exciting or alarming.
Products like Aerolife will allow us to inhale vitamins, supplements and flavours, e-cigarette style. Suppliers like the Ghost Food food truck will feed us bland food supplemented by delicious culinary scents that trick us into thinking we’re eating what we smell. Even alcohol can now be vaporized, making it possible to drink without drinking.
Basically the lungs may be the stomach of the 21st century.
3D Printed Food
It may seem like a far-fetched concept, but printed food is already being produced, and is even being considered for use in future space missions as well. Although food printers are few and far between at this point, there is a real push to utilize this technology from being a fun novelty to a real meal solution in the future.
Foods created in a 3D printer are currently limited to things that can start out puréed (like desserts, doughs, chocolate etc.) but with the developing cultured meat research, the days of printed meat could be fast approaching.
As with all new technologies, printing food is currently expensive and slow, but one day we could all be loading our printers with pancake cartridges before every breakfast. Who knows?
Meal Replacement drinks
What if the future of food doesn’t involve chewing at all? Drinking your way to being healthy isn’t a new trend (liquid diets have been around for what seems like forever) but products like Soylent, Joylent, Schmilk and Ruffood are making it healthier to responsibly replace a meal or two.
Although many current meal replacements don’t have all of the requirements to be a real replacement for actual food, these new options are pretty close to offering the full nutritional benefits of a traditional meal in just one drink.
It’s a super time saver (no meal-prep) and is great for people looking to consistently control their calorie intake. AND they even come in tasty flavours to satisfy any preference.
Robot/Vending machine restaurants
Do you tip a robot for great service? These are the dilemmas the future of food poses. With more and more restaurants replacing servers with iPads, it’s really no surprise that automating the whole process would be a thing of the future, so we may just be ditching the tips sooner rather than later.
Removing all human interaction from the restaurant experience is all the rage for the future with talk of robot chefs, servers and electronic order-taking literally taking over. And you don’t even have to go inside when your restaurant works like a vending machine.
Is this convenient or just antisocial?
Chewables
If liquids don’t sound satisfying enough for you, futuristic food in chewable pill form may be just what you need. From coffee gummies like GO Cubes to actual nutrient tablets like Lifecaps, sooner or later we’ll probably be able to fuel our bodies by popping a pill or two.
Whether or not they can effectively satiate our hunger is another debate, but nutrient-wise our bases will be covered.
