7 Foods We Won’t Be Eating 100 Years From Now

Change is coming whether we want it to or not, whether we believe in global warming or not. Right now we live in a food paradise, but our great-grandchildren will be having an entirely different dining experience than we do. Here are seven of our favorite things they probably won’t be eating.

Yes, we will have no bananas

Bananas sold in the early 20th century were a whole different breed than the kind we have now, and the same thing that wiped out the earlier species is wiping out the current type: a very specifically targeted tree disease. Already scientists are developing a strain of disease-resistant bananas to replace the current version, which will work… until the disease adapts and kills the new version, like it did last time. So, they might have bananas, but not the way we know bananas. Which is totally bananas.

Say cheese

The reason we won’t have most types of cheese is because we won’t have dairy, because we won’t have cattle. Cattle take up the most room, which requires the most deforestation for grazing. It won’t be because cattle are extinct that we won’t be doing dairy, it will be because it will be untenable to keep so many cows around, which will reduce the amount of milk available… and make regular cheese a luxury item.

Fallen arches

Hamburgers will be a thing of the past, too, and fast food more specifically, mostly for the reason above, but not entirely. Oh, I’m sure there will be some kind of meat sandwiched between buns that will be called “burger” but it will not be made of cow. Okay it might be made of cow but not real cow. In order to sustain demand without having more cows, or even as many cows, future food will be made from synthetically grown meat. Don’t laugh; they’re already succeeding in cloning and growing meat in the lab. So, no authentic burger, and, combined with the above, no cheeseburgers either.

Bar’s closed

Okay, so we’re already depressed about lovely meat and cheese and bananas – but not all at once — so future people will just have to drown their sorrows in booze, right? Nope, that will probably be gone, too. Alcohol as we know it will probably be phased out in favor of synthetic alcohol, or synthehol, which will create the pleasant buzz but not leave you with the actual drunkenness followed by a hangover. Because alcohol is made of grain (and other things) that are fermented, and grain may become harder to grow in rising temperatures and smaller arable areas.

Salad bar’s closed, too

You may not realize it but if you live in the First World, you have more access to fresh fruits and vegetables than anyone else at any other time in history. Between the ability to ship long distances and to grow lots of food fast, there’s really no food that isn’t acquirable (with large applications of money), even in “food desert” areas. This will change, too. It’s not that we won’t have vegetables and fruit, but getting it fresh may be out of the question for most people. Frozen, freeze-dried, liquefied, canned — those we’ll have. But unless you live on a farm, freshness is not remotely guaranteed.

Say it ain’t so, Joe

No, I hear you scream, not the coffee! (Or maybe that was me screaming. Hard to tell.) Yes, coffee is on the list. We’re already experiencing shortages, due to poor harvests, overharvesting, and — to be honest — we’re drinking way too much of it. Well, not me, obviously, but the rest of you. In any case, getting coffee free at the car repair shop will be a thing of the past, as it will be too expensive to give away. It will go back to being what it was when it was first brought to Europe from Turkey and the Middle East — an exotic, niche market item. But that’s not even the worst one on this list, hard as that is to imagine…

Water we going to do?

Top of the list is the most vital one. Water — fresh water, available anywhere — is already setting up to be a battleground. As drought spreads across the world, fresh water is starting to become scarce, even in first world areas. Anyone who’s seen the lack of water behind Hoover Dam can see the problem, and it’s only going to get worse. Future people will be drinking desalinated ocean water and recycled gray water more often than fresh water, and if you think bottled water is expensive now, it’s going to be in many places prohibitively so later on. And then things are going to really start to get bad. But don’t worry, we’ll all be gone by then and it will be someone else’s problem, so, who’s up for a cheeseburger?