The future of food

Find out what we'll be eating in 2028 in the latest issue of BBC Focus magazine.

Published: August 22, 2018 at 3:08 pm

Issue #326 ofBBC Focuson sale 22 August 2018

No fish and chips? No Thai red curry? No pizza? No thanks! Luckily for us, our diets have come a long way since the dark ages. But what are we going to be eating in the future? With natural resources being consumed at a rate never seen before, and the threat of climate change looming ever larger, it looks likely that we’re all going to have to change our eating habits.

But don’t worry, we’re not going to be consigned to living on food pills or tasteless techno gruel: science will come to the rescue. In this issue of BBC Focus we look at the food we’ll be eating in 10 years’ time, and the innovative methods we’ll use to grow it and cook it. Look forward to robot chefs, meal plans custom-matched to your genome, and breathtakingly beautiful 3D-printed desserts.

Also in this issue, we look at the psychology behind the growth of the Flat Earth movement, meet the investigators using data from DNA ancestry tests to crack cold cases, and peer inside the mind of the psychopaths hiding in plain sight.

Plus, we welcome new columnist Aleks Krotoski, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Digital Human.

The Future of Food © Blake Kathryn
© Blake Kathryn

What we’ll eat in 2028

It’s food, Jim, but not as we know it: how necessity and invention will combine to alter the food on our plates.

The seeds of change

Population growth and climate change present new challenges to farmers, but they’re fighting back with technology.

The rise of Flat Earthers

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories that fly in the face of all the scientific evidence? Moya Sarner investigates…

DNA ancestry kits caught a serial killer

How combining DNA evidence and genealogy is bringing killers to justice.

Inside the minds of everyday psychopaths

Not all psychopaths are killers:in fact, it’s highly likely that one of them is your employer.

Q&A

  • What’s the biggest butterfly in the world?
  • Why do footballers spit so much?
  • How often should you wash your bath towels?

Plus

Eye opener - Incredible images from around the world.

Discoveries - This month’s biggest science news.PLUS: What caused the summer heatwave?

Aleks Krotoski - How I overcame anxiety.

Michael Mosley - Airborne pollution: the silent killer.

Innovations - The latest technology and gadget news.PLUS: Electric vehicles on test.

Out there - Science stuff to look forward to this month:books, exhibitions, days out and more.

Crossword - A grey matter tester – in black and white.

My life scientific - Ella Al-Shamahi on combining stand-up comedy and palaeoanthropology.

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