This article was first published in the March 2016 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Food Futures Lab, Institute for the Future "Technology will change not only the way we eat, but what we eat. Scientists are using advanced genetic-engineering tools to recreate familiar foods in new ways. In the near future, milk, egg whites and specific flavours will be brewed from yeast - similar to the brewing of beer. As the technology becomes cheaper and more sophisticated, our paradigms for natural, sustainable and safe food will need to expand to accommodate a wider spectrum of choices and dilemmas. The question isn't if these foods will be possible, but when the policies, regulation and eaters catch up with the science."
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford "Technology will continue to distract us while we're eating and drinking, but I'm optimistic that in the years to come it will become an integral part of our food and drink experiences. Everything from using an iPad as 21st-century plateware to using handheld technologies like a musical glass to provide a dash of digital seasoning - that is, providing the right sonic backdrop matched to bring out the best in what we're eating or drinking."
Co-founder, Bompas & Parr "Technology will allow us to experience previously unknown, rare and wondrous flavours.
We're working with molecular biologists to create 'the steak that time forgot': mammoth meat from a lab environment. It will take a while and there are ethical considerations, but it will culminate in an epic feast where humans will be able to taste flesh that's been extinct for 10,000 years. We will go beyond the paleo diet to taste delicacies from before the dawn of civilisation. What foods these morsels be!"
Maureen Edmondson
President, Institute of Food Science and Technology "In a digital world we personalise most things, so why not food?
First, select a protein source, quantity, nutritional profile, production site, cooking medium, recipe and storage medium. Then determine where and how it will be delivered using an Amazon-style retailer. In contrast, local home grown, home-processed stores will flourish as a source of solace for those revolted by too much technology associated with the provisions of Mother Nature."
Ryan Pandya
Co-founder and CEO, Muufri "Food was the first technology. Farming, irrigation, cooking - none of these things are natural. But for the most part we've been letting nature turn the 'coarse' knob and we've been turning the 'fine' knob. What happens when we grab control of the coarse knob? The first priority is to get animals out of the food system - they're antiquated now we have better ways of making what they make. I like to imagine that in the future, we'll be able to invent substances like milk that simply had no reason to evolve naturally."
Adrian Cheok
Founder, Mixed Reality Lab, Singapore "We are working on technologies that use electromagnetic stimulation to produce tastes and smells without using chemicals. We'll be able to sense and transmit flavours as digital information, so we can have multi-sensory communication experiences - things like sharing a virtual meal with friends on the other side of the world, watching a chef on TV and tasting their food, or sharing food pictures on Instagram with the flavour added."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
