At the beginning of 2021, Finnish students from six different high schools around Finland, were asked to write an essay where they imagined ”food and eating in Finland in 2050”. 

“Write ca. 1 page text where you imagine food and eating in Finland in 2050. Consider how responding to environmental and sustainability issues affects food production and consumption. You may discuss, e.g., what foods are eaten, what kinds of raw materials they are made of, where and with whom food is eaten, how and where food is produced, where food is bought or how it is delivered and how food is packed. Be bold! In 2050 you are nearly 50 years of age.”

This exercise was part of a research project whose goal was to identify the specific views (the future images) of youth concerning the evolution of food systems through the means of imagination and writing. (Even if, as specified by the writers, youth should not be considered as a homogeneous category.)

“Future images differ from visions, which typically are desirable future states, constructed by an organisation to direct its actions. In comparison, future images can also be dystopic and often are most interesting when there are several future images to compare. The future images can reveal what people currently value, fear or hope for, as well as what they consider possible for the future.”

123 essays were submitted, and then analysed and sorted both by researchers and algorithms to extract the future images of the students concerning the food systems. Following the work of Dator on generic future types (Dator, 2009), they started the exploration of the future images with the four following categories : “Continued growth”, “Collapse”, “Discipline”, and “Transformation”. The exploration of the body of writings guided the research team to adapt this first canvas and transform the 4 generic types into 6 categories: “BAU+” (Business as usual), “Conscious consumer”, “Back to the roots”, “Strict regulation”, “Technology solves” and “Dystopia: food for survival”.

These future images were then more profoundly described using a PESTEC table (Policy, Economic, Social, Technology, Environment, Culture). The result of this work is presented in the table illustrating the article.

Looking at this panorama of the future images of food systems, the researchers were able to draw a few conclusions.

First of all, climate change is a “central driver for change” for a vast majority of the participants. Nonetheless, the solutions proposed in reaction to the state of the Earth's ecosystem differ in terms of strategy: conscious consumption, re-localisation, techno-optimism…

Technology is a particularly well represented theme. In “Technology solves” narratives, technological development is the core strategy for society’s adaptation. But in other writings, technology is also the source of numerous risks: “The “Dystopian” future image emerges as a counter narrative to Dator’s ideal “Transformation” trajectory. In the “Dystopian” image of the Finnish youth, technology disrupts our relation to food. Some of the dystopian images fear the collapse of traditional values, quality of nutrition and culinary experiences central to food.”

What the “Dystopian” narratives also enlighten us about are the important values around food: “Youth clearly value the social and cultural meaning of food, the shared meals, local food production, and healthiness of food, seeing them as also being under threat.”

Initiators: Minna Kaljonen, Vilja Varho, Kirsi Sonck-Rautio, Roosa Ritola, Anni Savikurki

Country: Finland

Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016328725000308