This is the food of the future, they say. We peel back plastic wrap and eat frozen peas with eyes wide open, mesmerized by the world inside the box. We shovel microwaved corn into our mouths above the humdrum of commercials. No whisk, no wait, no dishes. The world upside-down like pineapple cakes. Jell-O floats in either custard or limbo. Spies fight the bad guys. Eve of Destruction plays softly, everywhere.

This is the food of the future, they say. We imagine being Teen Dreams as we eat our Kid Cuisine. We blot electric colors on our eyelids to match our LED screens, the buzzing billboards above trafficked streets. One-Million-Likes-Magenta paints our hopeful sleep. We consume celebrity life: its glamour, its pitfalls. 

This is the food of the future, they say. We swallow our own de-familiarization. Microgreen popsicles with a side of algae chips. Insects for dinner or sustainable sustenance. Resources have diminished; time is running thin. Labs plan for what’s to come. It’s called utopian pragmatism: Guaranteed Future-Proof. Perhaps minimalism is the antidote to overindulgence. Perhaps if we eat enough Bug Burgers we can ward off combustion.

Photographs Isabelle Roig
Words Haley Harris
Direction Kamy Chong and Michelle Wanger

Armour Season 24—S/S 2020