Food of the Future

Increased globalization has resulted in massive amounts of food imports from outside of the United States.  Americans literally have a world of choices at their fingertips when they shop at a supermarket because a large amount of our meat and produce comes from other countries.  Traditionally seasonal items are now available year-round for us to purchase at any time.  Our increased globalization is heavily tied to rapid technological advancements.  In the case of food production, current examples technological integration include hybrid seeds, fertilizers, pesticide resistant GMOs and synthesized meats.  A possible vision 50 years from now, is shift towards lab-produced food with less dependency on traditional agriculture.

It's very difficult to say exactly what Americans will be eating 50 years from now and where it comes from, but we can be certain it will be very dissimilar from today.  The American diet is currently drastically different from what is was several decades ago.  We are currently incorporating larger amounts of "food-like substances" into our diets than generations prior ever have before.  There also have been great improvements made in food sanitation within the past 50 years.  Robert Paarlberg's article on organic food and world hunger points out that industrial-scale technical improvements have made American foods significantly safer over time.  Since 2000, instances of E. coli contamination in meat has dropped 45%.  Surveys from the Centers for Disease and Prevention also show that most fatalities and hospitalizations from unsafe food in the United States today are due to mishandling or improper preparation inside the home. 

A trend that could possibly take off in the future is artificial meat grown in laboratories.  One statistic from an article in The Guardian discussing the future of food says that 70% of the grain and cereal grown in the United States are fed to farm animals.  As more animals take up land space and more crops go towards feeding them, this option would use much less water, energy and land than our current method of harvesting livestock.  The United States is currently the highest meat-consuming nation in the world but other developing countries, such as China, are catching up.  Much like the green revolution in the 1950s, artificial meat could feed a larger number of people using fewer resources.  Transportation may also prove to be easier because it would take longer to perish and could allow for more storage time.