Meals to Come: A History of the Future of Food

California Studies in Food and Culture #16

by Warren Belasco

In this provocative and lively addition to his acclaimed writings on food, Warren Belasco takes a sweeping look at a little-explored yet timely humanity's deep-rooted anxiety about the future of food. People have expressed their worries about the future of the food supply in myriad ways, and here Belasco explores a fascinating array of material ranging over two hundred years―from futuristic novels and films to world's fairs, Disney amusement parks, supermarket and restaurant architecture, organic farmers' markets, debates over genetic engineering, and more. Placing food issues in this deep historical context, he provides an innovative framework for understanding the future of food today―when new prophets warn us against complacency at the same time that new technologies offer promising solutions. But will our grandchildren's grandchildren enjoy the cornucopian bounty most of us take for granted? This first history of the future to put food at the center of the story provides an intriguing perspective on this question for anyone―from general readers to policy analysts, historians, and students of the future―who has wondered about the future of life's most basic requirement.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, History, Science, Food and Drink, American History, Nutrition

396 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I already had my reservations about this book, because it felt long-winded and a little repetitive, and the fictional analysis was extremely limited. With very few exceptions, this 2006 book covers only novels and short stories. Television and movies are all but ignored, to say nothing of video games. Almost nothing published later than the mid 80s is mentioned.

And then Belasco got to Disney parks, something I actually know something about, and I found three major errors in two sentences. No, Carousel of Progress doesn't show "floating sea colonies", nor is it at EPCOT. Belasco is, I think, conflating Carousel with Horizons, an attraction already closed for seven years when this book was published. The two attractions have nothing at all in common, aside from both being sponsored by General Electric at one point. In the next sentence, he writes that "the Land exhibit" showcases Sea Base Alpha. Sea Base Alpha was next door, at The Living Seas pavilion. These are extremely basic errors that should have been caught by either Belasco or his editor at some point before publication. A few later pages about Disney are at least not astonishingly incorrect, but still give the general impression that Belasco has no idea what he's writing about. Referring to the World of Motion ride as a nameless General Motors exhibit is accurate, I guess, but still leaves the impression that Belasco is regurgitating something he read about once and couldn't be bothered to understand. Maybe the rest of the book is based on solid research, but if the one thing I know about is this bad, I can't trust a single other thing Belasco is written.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, be warned, this book is dense. A thick academic book looking to back up every point made with plenty of end notes, references and quotes. So. A bit of work to get though.

But! Slap-my-face-and-call-me-out, Belasco makes an excellent point that speculations about the future, both fiction and non-fiction, are LOADED with bias, and a whole lot of those predictions say a LOT more about male, white, heteronormative middle class fears than they do about actual facts.

An outstanding look at the gender, racial, economic and national biases that creep into science.