Forage, preserve cultivate: A Future Feast.
Food is both a cultural connector and creator of deep-seated memories. But with an uncertain future ahead, how might our relationship with food evolve?
As part of the Ecosystem event celebrating our first 20 years, the Vision & Strategy team explored the circular, associative, and futuristic side of food to imagine what’s to come in a rapidly changing climate and society. We researched, workshopped, experimented, and wrote to develop thought provoking edible stories.
We asked ourselves and each other: How will food change in the future? Food is both a cultural connector and a creator of deep-seated memories. But with an uncertain future ahead, how might our relationship with food evolve?
Here, we explore three approaches that preserve the meaning and connection we gain through food while considering how the rapidly changing climate will force us to rethink what, why, and how we consume.
Read on to join us for a delicious future feast, developed in collaboration with forpeople friend Josh Hatfield, New Product Development Chef at cultivated fat company Hoxton Farms.
First course
Local & Foraged
Our food culture is embedded in complex, international networks. In the UK, we rely on imports for 40% of our food – an energy intensive process of packing and shipping that delivers citrus fruits, tomatoes, and rice to our plates 365 days a year.
But as the environmental and security costs of global food networks become more visible, we need to find ways to feed ourselves that are closer to home.
Awareness is growing, and so are solutions that reconnect us with the ecosystems and communities on our own doorstep. There is a renewed interest in foraging—on TikTok alone, this hashtag has 130,000 posts and counting. Meanwhile, two fifths of UK households with gardens have started growing their own produce. In an era when people spend 90% of their time indoors, cultivating a hyperlocal approach to food could feed our bodies and our minds.
Our bites
To discover the flavours of our South London home, we partnered with local suppliers, foraged for seasonal ingredients, and took inspiration from nearby landmarks. These bites explore a connection to our community through food.
An English Piña Colada
A smooth and refreshing indulgence highlighting humble foraged ingredients with a surprisingly tropical taste. Combining the tang of wild chamomile (pineapple weed) with the coconut notes of locally picked gorse flowers, finished with a dollop of whipped gorse cream.
Ingredients: wild chamomile, gorse flowers, sugar syrup, gorse cream.
The Oval
Transporting us to match day at The Oval cricket ground. A pairing of quintessentially English flavours with traditionally masculine notes makes for the perfect innings. A scoop of wild strawberry ice cream, drizzled with sticky London Porter syrup, and a sauce that captures the essence of leather—all finished with a spritz of freshly mown grass.
Ingredients: wild strawberry ice cream, black olive and leather sauce, London Porter drizzle, freshly mown grass essence.
Bread & Honey Buffet
Celebrating the unique flavours of our neighbourhood flora through locally harvested honey. A mouthful that showcases nuanced textures and tastes—crystallised, runny, treacly, or the crunch of the comb—thanks to the ingenuity of our local busy bees.
Ingredients: local honey from Bee Urban in Kennington Park, freshly baked crusty white bread.
Second course
Preservation
What happens when a place synonymous with a particular food can no longer grow that food? The unpredictability of future climates is challenging how, where, and what we grow. Bordeaux grapes are ripening earlier in the season, threatening wine production, whilst erratic rainfall is leading to smaller yields of coffee beans. As farmers are forced to find new solutions or explore more climate-resilient crops, today’s familiar foods could become a distant memory.
The changing environment also means we need to find new ways to prolong the lifespan of food, beyond the harmful chemical preservatives we currently rely on. A return to traditional techniques like fermentation and curing would preserve not just food, but the traditions, skills and memories that are baked into culture.
As provenance shifts with the climate, (re)discovering ways to preserve food will also preserve our stories—and our tastes.
Our Bites
These bites blend preservation techniques, both innovative and ancient, to evoke a reverie of fond food memories.
A Taste of Holiday
A freeze-dried time capsule of perfectly preserved flavours, transporting us to Mediterranean Summers.Tangy tomato, salty black olives, and crisp bread mingle on the tongue, evoking la dolce vita.
Ingredients: bruschetta, tomato, basil, black olive, balsamic vinegar, olive oil (all freeze-dried).
Climate Change Jelly
Challenging traditional ideas about historic vineyards and their purpose. A sweet and tangy reduction that rethinks the classic use of Bordeaux grapes for a world undergoing climate change—where the terroir of Bordeaux will never be the same.
Ingredients: sweet grape jelly, grape balsamic syrup.
English Seaside
Capturing the nostalgic essence of the English seaside. A miniature salad inspired by salty waves, crunchy textures like sand in your sandwiches, and a sprinkle of vinegar that recalls fish and chips on the beach, come rain or shine.
Ingredients: crispy salt and vinegar potato scraps, pickled and dried seaweed, malt vinegar powder, savoury crumbs.
Third course
Lab-Grown
New methods of food production are emerging in response to growing ethical and environmental consciousness. From dairy-free cheese to meat cultivated in labs, brands are cooking up cruelty-free foods with reduced environmental impacts. Scientists from Yonsei University in South Korea have created a new type of hybrid food, fusing rice with meat protein, which they say could offer an affordable and eco-friendly source of protein.
But just because it’s scientifically possible doesn’t mean it’s socially acceptable. To gain mainstream acceptance, brands must harness the power of good design to create products that truly connect with people.
As our appetite and curiosity for novel foods increase, we seek experiences that delight more than our taste buds—engaging all the senses through texture, scent, and sound to connect with us on a much deeper level.
Our Bites
We wanted to challenge expectations around flavour, texture, and colour. These bites serve up unexpected experiences that explore a disconnect between visuals, scents, and sensations.
A Slice of Difference
Playing with our senses of sight and taste. Removing our reliance on the visual to make judgments about food by taking familiar bread and butter to an unfamiliar place. Ever wondered what ultraviolet tastes like?
Ingredients: UV crystal bread, sour cream butter.
Aroma Journey
Exploring the connection between olfactory experience and taste. Turning a bland biscuit into a journey of flavour, showing how the aromas of woodsmoke, caramel, and rose influence what we taste.
Ingredients: unleavened wheat flour wafer, with three different aromas to experience throughout the journey.
Snap, Crackle, Melt
Delighting in the sound and texture of food, with layers of crisp wafer, smooth chocolate, powdered pistachio, and popping candy that explodes in the mouth. These sequential textures crackle and dissolve, coating the tongue with flavour.
Ingredients: circle wafer, white chocolate, pistachio oil powder, popping candy, Maldon salt crystals.
As the climate changes around us, we’re responding with new ways to grow, gather, eat, and value food.
We’re looking closer to home to source surprising flavours on our doorsteps. We’re reconsidering what’s rare and precious, holding tightly onto memories and traditions. We’re following necessity and curiosity into uncharted food territory.
By understanding what is most meaningful in our experience of food, we can work towards a future where sustainability isn’t sacrificed for sensation but is the first ingredient in every recipe.
Food for thought
What is the flavour of your neighbourhood and how would you bring it to life?
What is your fondest food memory and how would you preserve it?
What colours, sounds and food sensations would you like to eat and how would they taste?
Written by
Fiona Hurst, together with our Vision & Strategy team
Fiona is a Senior Design Director at forpeople, leading creative, defining vision, and inspiring teams.
Join the conversation, we’d love to hear from you.