In my last blog I discussed about the future of food from the viewpoint of an 8-year old. After my intriguing discussion with my daughter, I went on a quest to identify what the future of our food will be, so I read a book titled, “The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food” by Josh Schonwald who is a journalist. He went on a “food” quest to understand what the future of food will hold as we need to feed 9.6 billion people by 2050. At first I was a little leery about reading a book written by a journalist instead of a food scientist, technologist, chef, or someone with a formal education in food, but his introduction grabbed me. 

He writes,

“The third important thing to know about this investigation: It’s pro-agricultural biotechnology…..This book was supposed to be neutral, friendly, glib, Switzerland-like – steering clear of thorny issues that could alienate 80 percent of the foodie population. And for about six months, it was. I looked for tasty food you might find in Whole Foods in 2035, not, say, what’s needed to feed the Sudan. But over the course of this journey, my approach and views did change.” (Schonwald, 2012, p. 17).

There are many parts in this book that are interesting such as his discussion about the bagged salad movement, aqua farming, and the uprising demand for ethnic cuisine. But the part that interested me the most was the techniques and ways people are building their own micro-farms within cities and other urban areas. The best example he provided was downtown Detroit where you can find gardens growing in demolished buildings or in alleys. Many of these gardens are for the entire community, thus anyone can partake in growing and eating crops. This is certainly not a new concept, community gardening, but I have seen more community gardens pop up around my neighborhood within the past 5 years. It makes me quite proud to see people planting seeds or caring for the garden. It’s even fun to see children outside as they learn to appreciate where their food is really coming from. Who knows what will be the future of food, but maybe in the future our food will be coming more from community farms…

Schonwald, J. (2012). The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food. Harper Collins.