A talk on 'Future Foods' both real and imagined. Which explores the glimpses of food from the futre in sci-fi films, contrasted with the reality of what is around and available to use today. Presented at Pecha Kucha as part of Brighton Science Festival 2011

1. Presenting:
Future Food - Real & Imagined
PechaKucha March 2011
E: hello@olishaw.com
T: @olishaw
W olishaw.com
Hi
I’m
Oli
Shaw.
I’m
not
a
food
scien6st,
I’m
more
of
a
culture
explorer
employing
techniques
from
anthropology
and
sociology
to
see
how
we
live
day
to
day
and
the
things
we
do
and
what
we
use.
Which
brings
me
on
to
food,
one
of
the
3
basic
survival
necessi6es;
Food,
Shelter,
Warmth.

2. Spoilers &
Stomachs
I’ve
always
been
a
fan
of
science
fic6on
geFng
glimpses
in
to
possible
futures,
and
one
of
the
things
that
fascinated
me
most
in
sc-­‐fi
is
the
food.
In
this
talk
I’m
exploring
the
imagined
food
of
science
fic6on
and
the
reality
of
the
foods
that
are
available
and
we
eat
today.
The
talk
will
contain
some
film
spoilers,
sorry
about
that.
I
also
I
hope
you
have
strong
stomachs.

3. Sleeper (1973)
In
the
1973
Film
Sleepers
there
is
a
scene
where
when
scavenging
for
food
Woody
Allen
finds
a
future
farm
with
oversized
fruit
and
vegetables…
Oh
and
there’s
also
a
giant
chicken...

4. The
technology
to
gene6cally
modify
animals
and
vegetables
has
been
around
for
some
6me,
there
is
a
lot
of
cau6on
around
using
it
on
animals,
such
as
the
Salmon
eggs
which
was
in
the
news
last
summer,
there
are
lesser
qualms
about
modifying
fruit
and
vegetables.
In
China
they
sent
a
load
of
seeds
into
space
and
when
they
returned
grew
them
into
giant
‘space
veg’,
they
needed’t
have
gone
to
all
that
trouble
UK
allotment
owners
have
been
doing
that
for
their
village
fetes
for
years.

5. Waterworld (1995)
In
the
1995
film
Waterworld
the
sea’s
have
risen
and
drinkable
water
is
a
rare
commodity
and
a
valued
currency,
as
a
result
its
possible
to
use
an
osmosis
machine
to
convert
urine
into
drinking
water.
They
don't
really
explain
why
you
cant
just
convert
the
sea
water,
but
we
can
only
assume
that
drinking
converted
pee
makes
for
a
beWer
film.

6. So
on
the
topic
of
drinking
urine,
the
US
military
have
developed
the
technology
to
have
meal
re-­‐hydrated
by
using
urine,
the
ra6onal
is
that
water
accounts
for
a
large
amount
of
the
weight
in
a
back
pack,
by
reducing
he
water
content
solider
can
carry
less.
They
don't
say
its
only
pee
that
will
do
it,
its
designed
so
any
kind
of
water,
muddy
or
otherwise
will
be
purified
enough
to
rehydrate
food.Also
the
same
technology
is
being
tested
for
aid
supplies
to
disaster
sites
where
the
same
problem
of
the
weight
of
distribu6ng
drinkable
water
is
an
issue.
And
in
India
cow
urine
is
a
healthy
alterna6ve
to
cola...apparently

7. Back to the future II (1989)
In
the
1989
film:
Back
to
the
Future
2
we
see
a
glimpse
into
the
year
2015
where
Black
an
Decker
have
made
a
Food
re-­‐hydrator
/
microwave.
A
fantas6cal
device
where
you
put
in
a
foil
sealed
pizza
and
in
just
a
few
seconds
out
comes
a
pizza
as
fresh
and
hot
as
from
any
pizzeria.

8. Despite
all
the
advances
by
the
Space
programs
of
the
world,
re-­‐hydra6on
on
this
scale
hasn’t
yet
been
achieved,
yet
in
other
areas
that
have
surpassed
this
concept.
But
we
do
have
things
like
Shake
&
Bake
pancakes,
Smash
mash
potatoes
and
meal
replacement
shakes
such
as
slim
fast
which
just
need
water
adding
to
them.

9. Matrix Reloaded (2003)
In
the
2003
film
Matrix
reloaded:
There
is
a
scene
where
inside
the
world
of
the
Matrix
the
Merovingian
character
reprograms
the
DNA
of
a
cheesecake
to
induce
an
orgasm
in
an
unsuspec6ng
diner.
A
cake
that
takes
delicious
&
tasty
to
a
new
level…

10. While
we
don’t
yet
have
food
to
create
an
orgasm,
sprinkling
viagra
on
a
cake
wouldn’t
quite
create
the
same
effect,
we
do
have
the
ability
to
make
things
tas6er.
There
is
a
chocolate
currently
only
in
Japan
called
GABA
which
uses
hormones
to
create
an6-­‐stress.
And
Nestlé
are
apparently
researching
into
chemicals
which
can
make
you
salivate
more
making
things
taste
more
refreshing
and
juicer.
For
the
moment
we
will
have
to
live
with
the
holy
trinity
of
Salt
/
Sugar
/
Fried
for
our
orgasmic
food
sensa6ons,
Krispy
Kreame
anyone..?

11. The 6th Day (2000)
In
2000
film
The
6th
Day
it
heavily
features
the
topic
of
cloning,
from
pets
to
the
outlawed
humans,
which
is
a
large
topic
when
considering
the
future
of
food,
bigger
then
I
could
cover
in
tonights
talk.
But
there
is
a
very
‘throw
away’
scene
in
the
film
where
Arnold
Schwarzenegger
is
offer
a
choice
of
2
bananas
‘Nacho
flavour
or
original’

12. Flavours
and
colours
have
long
been
around
our
foods
from
home
baking
dyes
to
mass
manufacture
flavorings.
Much
like
the
horseradish
and
carrot
jelly
beans,
Heinz
tried
to
make
tomato
ketchup
more
interes6ng
by
making
it
green
and
purple
Kit-­‐kat
have
tried
a
few
flavors
from
apple
and
carrot
to
sports
drink
flavors
Meat
water,
is
an
exclusive
meal
flavored
water
drink,
so
exclusive
its
probably
a
hoax
cheetos
lip
balm…

13. Soylent Green (1973)
In
the
1973
film
Soylent
Green
the
popula6on
has
grown
beyond
the
food
supplies,
Most
of
the
world's
popula6on
survives
on
processed
ra6ons,
including
Soylent
Red
and
Soylent
Yellow,
which
are
adver6sed
as
"high-­‐
energy
vegetable
concentrates."
The
newest
product
is
Soylent
Green
-­‐
which
is
adver6sed
as
being
produced
from
"high-­‐energy
plankton."
Green
is
the
tas6est
of
the
three
but
in
short
supply...as
it
turns
out
it’s
not
plankton,
“Soylent
green
is
people”

14. So...ea6ng
people...
ForgeFng
the
incidents
when
an
unfortunate
worker
get’s
dismembered
and
it
ends
up
on
our
plate.
And
the
taboo
of
ea6ng
the
placenta...and
brought
back
into
the
main
stream
discussion
by
Tom
Cruise.
We
now
have
rice
with
human
genes
in,
which
contains
2
hormones
found
in
breast
milk,
the
rice
is
to
be
used
in
crea6ng
babies
milk
and
Human
hair
is
used
to
extract
a
food
addi6ve
called
L-­‐cysteine
(L-­‐cys
for
short)
which
is
open
used
to
give
bagels,
pizza
dough,
and
a
range
of
ready
meals
to
make
the
soper
and
or
fresher.

15. Fortress (1992)
All
this
talk
about
enhancing
the
food,
we
haven’t
touched
on
the
other
side
of
this
rela6onship,
why
not
modify
humans...
In
the
1992
film
Fortress,
the
prison
warden
is
a
modified
human
who
only
need
to
‘eat’
once
a
month,
when
he
receives
a
combina6on
of
proteins
and
amino
acids
to
keep
himself
fuelled.

16. We
have
had
things
like
SlimFast
for
some
6me
now,
where
you
replace
2
of
your
daily
meals
with
a
shake
and
only
need
to
eat
one
meal
per
day.
A
growing
trend
amount
some
vegan
celebri6es
is
to
have
a
regular
vitamin
b12
injec6on
to
top
up
the
food
nutrients
they
are
not
receiving,
which
go
beyond
the
supplements
we
are
used
to.
With
todays
fast
paced
life
it
might
not
be
long
before
a
slim
fast
and
red
bull
diet
is
upgraded
to
something
where
we
only
need
to
top
up
once
a
week
with
‘body
fuel’

17. Things I could have talked about...
Cloned animals / Cloned meat / The terminator seed / Patenting food / The rise and rise of salts and
sugars in what we eat / Food engineered to grow medicines / Food that wont rot (is it really food?)
Some
other
topics
I
haven't
covered
which
are
important
are:
Cloned
animals
for
farming
Cloned
meat
-­‐
skip
the
animal
The
terminator
seed
(that
wont
reproduces)
as
seen
in
corn
Paten6ng
foods
/
seeds
and
controlling
what
can
be
grown
by
who
The
rise
and
rise
of
salt
and
sugar
in
foods
Medicine
grown
through
foods
Food
that
wont
rot,
is
it
really
food?
The
images
show
Sally
Davies
happy
meal
project,
and
the
US
militaries
sandwich
which
lasts
for
3
years

18. They
where
just
a
few
examples
of
what
the
state
of
food
is
today.
But,
to
begin
concluding
this
talk
I’ll
leave
you
with
3
closing
thoughts
1.
Children
Growing
up
now
consists
of
packets,
not
produce
-­‐
The
skills
needed
are
in
finding
the
best
packet,
and
knowing
how
to
cook
it,
usually
in
under
3
minutes
in
a
microwave.
The
knowledge
of
what
food
is
and
where
it
comes
from
is
rapidly
being
lost
with
each
genera6on,
from
knowing
what
simple
fruit
and
vegetables
are
to
where
cheese
comes
from.
Which
is
not
surprising
when
they
are
packaged
for
consump6on
in
such
a
variety
of
ways
before
they
enter
the
home.

19. The Matrix (1999)
2.
Bliss
From
the
Matrix
in
1999,
in
the
real
world
they
eat:“A
single
celled
protein
combined
with
synthe6c
aminos,
vitamins
and
minerals
-­‐
everything
the
body
needs”
which
they
affec6onately
refer
to
as
snot
But
its
not
enough
for
at
least
one
of
them,
Cypher,
whilst
inside
the
Matrix
he
says
that
I
“know
this
steak
doesn’t
exist,
when
I
put
it
into
my
mouth
the
Matrix
is
telling
my
mouth
that
it
is
juicy
and
delicious…and
aper
nine
years,
what
I
have
realised
is
that
ignorance
is
bliss”

20. Idiocracy (2006)
Which
brings
me
on
to
the
3rd
and
final
thought…
3.
Worse
The
next
6me
your
watching
a
science
fic6on
movie
and
you
see
some
outrageous
example
of
the
future
food,
just
think
to
yourself,
the
reality
of
the
food
around
you
everyday
is
probably
much
worse!
:)
Don't
be
fooled
by
the
steak
of
decep6on,
it’s
available
and
offered
to
you
every
day…
The
image
is
from
the
2006
film
Idiocracy,
where
everyone
drinks
sports
drinks
instead
of
water,
including
the
livestock
and
crops.

21. THANK YOU…
@olishaw / www.olishaw.com
Its
a
topsy
turvy
world
of
food
out
there,
we
have
meat
shaped
like
sweets,
and
sweets
shaped
like
animals…
I
hope
you’ve
enjoyed
these
examples.
I’ll
be
puFng
on
my
site
tomorrow
an
extended
version
of
this
talk,
with
links
to
lots
of
the
films
and
examples
I
have
men6oned
for
those
who
are
interested
in
exploring
some
more.
Which
you
can
find
at
olishaw.com
Thank
you!
Olishaw.com
@olishaw