What will food be like in the future?

Insects, algae, concentrated tablets… Reality and fiction have given us all kinds of ideas for how to feed ourselves in the future. What will we eat in the future and how will we eat it? Will we still enjoy your mother’s or grandmother’s soups? Will we have to make do with the first thing you find in the fridge? These questions are very personal, but we can dare to see some trends that will give us some clues about what the food of the future will be like, globally.

However, we should not forget that the way we feed ourselves is not the same all over the world. It is not the same even in two countries that share a border. Globalization can have a huge impact on who eats quinoa or avocado toast. Or who drinks the latest trendy drink like kombucha or detox drinks. But the gastronomic culture of each country continues to have a lot of influence. With some variations, but with some traditions that continue to determine what is eaten in homes in certain geographical areas.

Fashion, marketing and food industries aside, there are millions of people who survive on the little they can get from the land. Others can choose between eating something that grows a few miles away or on the other side of the planet. And there are those who have to adapt their diets not only to what the supermarket has, but also to what their pockets can handle. So it’s not easy to predict what the future of food will look like for all these people. But let’s look at some examples of what it will be.

Between food, need and work

Let’s start with the bad. Humanity is technologically capable of producing enough food for all the inhabitants of the planet. But there is another sector of the economy. That’s the companies, the markets, the commercial interests, etc. Or let’s look at the numbers. According to the 2021 UN report on nutrition and food security, between 720 and 811 million people went hungry in 2020. And the truth is that food production and distribution are not the same everywhere.

Since the beginning of the century, the demand for food has increased. And in the 21st century, we are more. And some countries demand more food. On the other hand, certain parts of the planet demand a greater variety of foods due to the diversification of diets. The good news from the UN report is that this transition towards healthier diets can help curb world hunger.

But for everyone to eat, investment policies, public spending, trade policies and an essentially uninterrupted food supply chain are needed. Other fundamental policies such as preventing waste and food waste and supporting local and/or small-scale production must be added to this.

What will the food of the future be like?

Far from the fads or anecdotes that occasionally appear in the media trying to sell a strange product to specific markets, researchers around the world are working to improve the food we already have so that the food of the future will benefit us more. Better preservation methods, foods with more features than they already have by default… In short, it’s about reducing environmental impact and optimizing food consumption.

Looking back, we can enjoy innovations that have changed our relationship with food for the better. Freezing, dehydration, aseptic packaging, sterilization… What else could be done? For starters, making foods more nutritious. Proteins, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamins… Since mankind has “domesticated” fruits such as tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, rice, corn, bananas, watermelons, there is more of today’s food than in previous centuries. In the beginning, some of them were inedible or small. Today, we have larger varieties, more resistant to pests or enriched at the source.

And if we talk about adding improvements to food, we should also try to remove or reduce fat, sugar or salt. In reality, this problem is not related to raw materials, but to processed products. But one way to combat diabetes, obesity and/or coronary problems could be to combat the excess of certain elements found in food directly from the way it is grown.