In this series, we uncover a lot of oddities in our journey into the future of food. But no matter what kinds of food we hope to have in the future, one thing remains: we will be reliant upon our Earth to provide it.

Sometimes that connection to the Earth is hidden under lab science and technological advancement, however, at some point in the journey to your future dinner plate, that food was reliant upon our natural world for energy, nutrients, and sunlight.

And so that compels a simple question: With a rising global population and increased need for protein-rich foods, does our natural world have what it takes to provide those preferred future dinners?

In this episode of Eating Tomorrow, we explore what it will take to produce the foods of the future. We take inventory of our already and soon-to-be endangered foods, investigate alternative farming techniques, and regenerative solutions. Don’t be surprised if you walk away with more ideas about what is possible even though the theme of this episode is about our present-day limits.

What more is possible for the future of food if we acknowledge our limits?

Main Course

• If you have ever wondered what products you will order from Amazon in 2050 after the water crisis fully takes over the planet, you can visit The Drop Store. Developed by Eduardo Marques, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe Netherlands and Belgium, this eCommerce experience from the future is generating urgency toward a planet that is already in crisis.
• Clean protein takes on a crunchy new proportion with Sarah Schlafly, CEO of Mighty Cricket. Find out why some scientists are saying that insects are the next superfood.
• Taking on the complexities of redesigning the global food system? That is an everyday challenge for Sharon Cittone, founder and CEO of Edible Planet Ventures. She inspires with a transformational vision for the future of food made possible through (sometimes unlikely) activist collaborations.
• Listen for the Soy Bonus: Soy in circular good systems. 

Extra Helpings

• Avocado toast, home fries, and mimosas. The entire brunch menu is on the endangered foods list. Find out how fragile the food system could be.
• The World Health Organization has detected microplastics in our drinking-water, learn more about the risks and what you can do about this growing issue.
• Learn about Kernza, the perennial species that some are calling the grain of the future.

Next up on the plate: