Future food: What will we eat tomorrow?

The Sugar Boycott, launched in 1791, is believed to have been the first consumer boycott in history. Sugar had become the symbol of the English slave trade, and campaigners of the Abolitionist Movement smashed "sugar-tainted" tea cups. In the drawing above, the cartoonist Isaac Cruikshank made fun of the nobles of the time who saw themselves as freedom fighters, but mourned their sweet tea.

In 1902, the vegetarian August Engelhardt traveled to German New Guinea (part of the German colonial empire at the time) and bought a coconut plantation there. Since the coconut grows high and close to the sun, he was convinced that its consumption made people immortal. He founded a sect of sun worshipers who were cocoivores ⁠— a diet based on coconuts only. Many of his disciples quickly died.

More and more people are becoming vegetarians, so the food industry is developing various alternatives to meat. But this is not a new phenomenon. Even during the First World War, the then director of food supplies and later first Federal Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, invented a soy sausage to provide the population with protein-rich food. He even obtained a British patent for the product.

At the Vienna International Garden Show in 1964, the Austrian engineer Othmar Ruthner presented his "tower greenhouse." Flowers and vegetables could grow in a 41-meter-high glass tower; irrigation and fertilization were fully automatic. The whole world was fascinated by the innovative project. At that time it did not prevail, but today Ruthner is considered a pioneer of "vertical farming."

Ghana's poultry farmers have been struggling ever since Europe and the US started exporting their cheap frozen chicken parts to the African country at dumping prices. Only 5% of the market share is held by domestic poultry producers. A campaign is therefore encouraging people to consume locally-produced chicken instead.

Instead of mass-produced meat, more and more consumers are turning to organic food. However, information on the origins of the animal is usually not available. The company Block Bird's aims to provide the "world's most transparent chicken," according to their own slogan. The label records the entire journey of the chicken, from egg to grocery store through blockchain technology.

Cultivation and pasture areas in the city are limited. An alternative has been developed in the Netherlands: The picture above shows a so-called floating farm in the port of Rotterdam. The stable on the water not only saves land, but also enables shorter transport routes for the milk these cows produce.

So far, Europeans are more used to seeing insects in glass displays than on their plates. However, consumption of some insects has been permitted in the EU since 2018. These nocturnal crickets, for example, can easily be mass-produced and processed into protein-rich food for people: as freeze-dried snacks or as a food additive in powder form.

Eating is way more than the ingestion of food. Photographer Michael Zee has been publishing a picture of the breakfast he has prepared for himself and his partner on his Instagram account since 2013. Each time, their meal is arranged symmetrically. Zee wants to celebrate the details that stand for a caring relationship, the beauty in everyday life and the diversity of food culture.

The spoons of the South Korean designer Jinhyun Jeon are said to enhance the taste experience through synesthesia, a neurological phenomenon in which the stimulation of one sense also awakes other senses at the same time. To intensify the taste experience, the designer works with spoons that have different temperatures, colors, surface textures, sizes and shapes.

Take a seat at a lush table and indulge in culinary delights. Will that still be possible in the future? The German Hygiene Museum in Dresden deals with this question in its exhibition "Future Food: What will we eat tomorrow?" which runs until February 21, 2021.