History 102: Food

In 2081 organic food is no longer available on Planet Earth. The human diet is entirely made up of synthetically produced food dispensed via specially designed community cafeterias.

Individuals are prescribed a calorie controlled diet according to statistics filed by their personal physicians, taken at an annual check up held within 24-hours of their birthday. Details on the individual’s dietary requirements/permissions are uploaded to a massive global database, accessed via an ocular chip implanted in the individual's eyeball at birth. Upon arrival for a meal at the community cafeteria the individual stands in front of a dispensing unit. An ID scan takes place and the correct calorie controlled meal is dispensed according to the data on file. As a result of the community cafeteria's and calorie controlled consumption of sythetic food, obesity became an obsolete disease by the year 2032.

Each meal contains a balance of synthetically produced protein, carbohydrates and simulated vegetables. If the meal is not consumed within 20 minutes of dispensing it disintegrates along with the synthetic plate it is served on, thereby eliminating the need for tidying away of plates or utensils. This system was originally designed when the world’s fresh water supply reached critically low levels in 2027 (more on this in Environmentals 201).

Food contains neither colour nor any apparent texture. It is artificially flavoured according to the individual’s cultural influences. It is possible to request a variety of flavours from other cultures, however this is discouraged because early 21st century gastroenterologists determined that many of the gastrointestinal complaints dealt with in the 20th century were the result of consumption of foods that were genetically unsuitable to peoples of different cultures – international cuisine was outlawed in order to reduce global expenditure on surgical procedures for food related afflictions. Governments determined such diseases or disorders were self-inflicted and therefore not treatable under any government medical program.