Wednesday, November 7, 2007

"Sunshine go away today, I don't feel much like eating..."


This past weekend we watched the Danny Boyle movie "Sunshine". If you haven't seen it yet, it's about 8 astronauts who travel into the sun to basically "re-start" it as the sun seems to be dying. If the sun dies, we die, and so on.
It was a mostly creepy and dark- but overall wonderful and thought-provoking- movie. A few plot holes, but no big deal as it was so very well done I don't really care. I don't want to spoil any of it for you, so I say just see it when you can- it is well worth your time.

The next day after seeing this film, I had a lot of thoughts going through my mushy brain, but mostly this movie got me thinking about food.
How does that work, you ask? Food? I thought this was a sci-fi-esque journey to save the sun?
Huh?

Well, there was a scene in the movie where one of the crew was cooking dinner for everyone else. For some reason I found this to be odd. Not odd in that I didn't think that people in the future wouldn't eat, but I always assumed that astronauts would eat mushy concentrates out of foil packets and drink Tang. I just thought that their time would be better spent concentrating on not screwing up the mission and such. What to cook for dinner seems like it would take a back seat to the "bigger" issues.

But maybe not.

Maybe food is the one thing that is constant, the one thing we all can relate to. Maybe we all can't cook, but we all have to eat to live (though I don't know if me eating 3 pounds of jalapeƱo hummus and a bag of pita chips in one sitting is totally necessary for mankind to survive- the jury is still out on that one).
Everyone in every country has probably at one point or another gathered around a table of some sort to eat as a group. Everyone has favorite things that they like to eat, if given a choice. Everyone knows the joy of that first bite of something so wonderful and delicious that it makes you close your eyes and slow down just to make the moment last just a few seconds more...

But what if it weren't an issue?

What if tomorrow, or next week, the "perfect" foodstuff were developed that solved all of the world's hunger problems? What if Climate change made it so only certain raw materials could be produced- namely, this "perfect" food bar that for the sake of argument we'll call "Awesomebar"? What if they were rationed out so that no one went hungry, but no one got more than they needed?
This "Awesomebar" would simultaneously solve world hunger and the obesity problem. Everyone would get every possible nutrient they need: vitamins, minerals, fiber, calcium, protein, carbs, etc...

Food as we know it would be gone- poof!
Replaced by "Awesomebar"- now in cherry flavor!

What I'm mainly trying to get at here is: What would we do with all that free time?
Think about it- most of us (not just those of us who have made it a career) think about food, and we spend a significant portion of our lives in the pursuit of food. Shopping, dining out, cooking, thinking about cooking (what the hell to have for dinner again??), reading recipes, watching cooking on t.v, and on and on and on.
And let's not forget the time many of us spend obsessing about what the food does to us physically and emotionally. What if we all were at the weight we were supposed to be at and that was that? What if we all were that "perfect" size we strive so hard for? What if we got only the calories we needed and no more? What if the days of hating ourselves for eating half of a family-size pizza with extra cheese were gone?

I wonder if the world would see a renaissance the likes of which has never been seen before.

Would we all finally find time to write that novel, pursue that degree, finish those projects around the house, take up yoga, volunteer, spend more time with your family and friends, cure cancer, create art, broker world peace, finish our thesis, watch a "Battlestar Galactica" marathon or clean out our closets?


Would we use the time wisely or not?


Or, would we just sit around, remembering the "good old days" when pizza and hummus existed?


Maybe I'm thinking too much.
Maybe I need a snack while I ponder this...
Damn, I sure could go for an "Awesomebar".

36 comments:

gorillabuns said...

i can't imagine a world without a good plate of cheese fries with a side of ranch.

secondly, would they have an "awesomeade?"

i don't think i want to live in this future world.

Chiada said...

Two parts to my comment:

1. I was just thinking similar thoughts this morning when I saw a news clip about some city possibly banning fast food. The anchor asked "are people being forced into being thin?" And I said out loud to Hub-E, I wonder what the world will be like in 100 years from now. Will the government regulate what we eat in order to make us all thin so that insurance companies don't have to shell out for obesity-related illnesses? Interesting to ponder over from time to time.

2. Your post made me think of the manna that God gave to the Israelites when they lived in the wilderness and how they all complained about it because they were sick of eating it.

It would be awful to have to live on Awesomebar for our whole life. Maybe, instead of a rennaisance, there'd be riots and secret groups growing their own food, who mysteriously disappear from time to time.

nancypearlwannabe said...

I wouldn't want to live in a world without pizza. Even if it made me skinny.

Nature Girl said...

I say we give it a shot...lets try out this "awesome bar" for a good 2 months or so...see what happens.

wait...it does have ice cream on it right????

Stacie

Lollie said...

Do not remove my food, man. It is my escape, my reason for wine, my respite from work, my ultimate pleasure. You hit me with an Awesomebar 3 times a day, 7 days a week and I'm walking off the planet.

Fo' Sho'.

Butrfly Garden said...

Wow, Whiskey! What an extremely interesting topic!

I, for one, would start drinking more. And do more yoga. (I'd need something to burn all the alcohol calories.) And I do think I would long for chocolate. LOOOOOOOONG for it.

abbersnail said...

I hope food never goes away. Seriously, even with my ongoing "body issues," I love the ritual of meals. There is something about preparing a meal and then sitting down to enjoy it that satisfies my soul. Frankly, I'd never trade that in, even if it meant looking like my "ideal."

CDP said...

I'm assuming that the Awesomebar is deep fried solid chocolate covered with whipped cream? If not, then no thanks. Seriously, I can't imagine life without food, and not just enjoying the taste and variety, but the ritual of procuring, preparing, serving, cleaning up. I like a day off from all of that as much as the next person, but life wouldn't have the same meaning or intensity if it disappeared altogether. Great post!

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Hopefully we'd spend all that free time blogging!

carrster said...

Ugh -I recently have been spending SO MUCH TIME on the food thing - just found out I have gestational diabetes so on top of the daily "what do you feel like for dinner" conversation with my husband, now I have to think about, measure, weigh, read every label, plan and execute appropriately while testing my blood along the way! SO MUCH TIME in the whole food world - and it's not even fun! Hmph. Perhaps I'm just grouchy (& a tad hungry) - this is a very interesting post! (visiting via NaBloPoMo - Minnesota bloggers, btw)

Flenker said...

There's a Chuck Klosterman article that starts out with him posing a rhetorical situation, in which a "super pill" has been developed that, when taken, makes food totally unnecessary, and goes on to (briefly) discus the repercussions, both in the food and farming industries. It's interesting to think about it. And painful. I don't want to think too much. I just want donuts.

3carnations said...

I'm going with a completely unrelated comment/question. How do you keep a cheesecake from cracking on top? I've been told put a pan of water in the oven with it, but that has never worked for me. It's no big deal...It always tastes delicious, but how do you make it look pretty, too?

Flenker said...

And come on, only eating HALF of the family-sized pizza? I have that much down before I take a drink of my diet soda pop.

Mair said...

My friend Maryann and I often refer to that as the food pill, and when we get tired of cooking and tired of eating (you know, nothing tastes good), that's what we say we want. But I don't think I really do. I'll take some red pepper hummus and garlic crackers.

Whiskeymarie said...

3carn- A few things: 1) don't overbake it- it's done when the middle is "set" ut still a tad jiggly.
2) When you pull it out of the oven (I never use a water beath either), run a paring knife around the edge & pop it right in the refrigerator. As it cools it contracts, and then you get cracks.
Hope that helps!

Now, back to our regularly scheduled discussion...

3carnations said...

Thank you. I will try that!

Sorry to interrupt your post...This was just a test of the emergency (baking) broadcast system. Had there been an actual emergency...I wouldn't be asking about cheesecake. :)

Whiskeymarie said...

No big deal- ask me anything anytime.
And maybe next time I'll proof what I've typed before I hit "publish"

Sean said...

Wait didn't I see this movie? Demolition Man? Forget the awesomebar I'll take the rat burger.

Mariposa said...

i think i will manage with just an awesome bar...it will give me more time to do what i want to do...i judt hope we can alter the flavor every now and then...

kerrianne said...

I've thought about how much time would be made available if we didn't have to eat, but then where would the foodies go? And the good cooks? And bacon? Where would bacon go?

Melissavina said...

I love and hate food in equal amounts. It is one of my biggest comforts and the cause of some of my biggest defeats. The Awesomebar would be similarly great and terrible.

I love this post, it's very thought provoking. Food as time, food as effort, food as happiness, if all of that was removed I'm not sure what I'd do with myself. Go crazy I guess. Wait... too late.

kirida said...

I've always thought of future-food as being in pill form. maybe that's 'cause of all the TV I've watched.

Christa said...

this is exactly the genre of things i think about all the time. my most recent "what if" which doesn't seem so far off is:

what if instead of conventional advertising, i could touch my tv screen during gossip girl and find out where the lamp in samaire armstrong's bedroom comes from, how much it costs, and immediately put it on a wish list or directly into my virtual shopping cart. two days later its plugged into my wall and next to my bed.

or, if i want to know the song that is playing during a scene on "the hills" i can touch the screen and immediately download it to my laptop for 99 cents.

the future is so interesting.

Kate said...

Very. Good. Thought. Provoking. Post.

I think people would have to combat that loss of sensuality with something else, most likely sex. Maybe the world population would explode in a way we've never seen.

Fran said...

I am so late to the party all I can say is this... "what no awesomebar left for me?"

Seriously- great post.

How does your mind work this way?

Someone wrote me an email today to pay me a compliment and it was most kind and sweet.

I think this person must read this blog,but doesn't comment here, so I hope they don't mind me repeating this.

What they said was something to effect of that I was a "really good writer, almost as funny as that Whiskeygirl(?)."

Almost as funny as that Whiskeygirl?

Shit, I will take that!

Distributorcap said...

can i quote Oliver
please sir can i have some more?

of that delicious plate

Lisa said...

You want me to give up my coffee and ice cream? My steak? My beer? My fajitas??? Um, yeah. Notsomuch.

Iteresting thoughts though.

domboy said...

I always looked at food as a daily inconvenience, until I started dating my wife (she wasn't my wife when we started dating). Eating together every day is an amazing ritual, not at all what I thought it would be. It seems to taste much better when one of you can cook, too.

Suze said...

As long as you don't come knocking on my door selling the Awesomebars. Although if you do, you should get uniforms like the girl scouts - but something more flattering.

Stefanie said...

I hope food never goes away. I remember as a kid seeing an episode of The Jetsons, where they ate food pills instead of actual food, and I just thought that had to be the saddest thing ever.

Also, rationing Awesomebars sounds an awful lot like Soylent Green.

("Soylent Green is PEOPLE! It's PEEEEEOPLE!!")

*Shudder*

Nocturnal said...

Damn that looks good and healthy to boot. Rare I like food of the like.

Cheers

lizgwiz said...

Unless the Awesomebar tastes like extra-sharp cheddar cheese, or dark chocolate...I want no part of this future world. I'll stay my imperfect self. Pass the donuts. ;)

Courtney said...

OMG - I think about this exact same thing ALL the time!!!!! Except instead of a renaissance, I think society would just sorta break down. I mean really! What would we do with ourselves!?!?! Life would be so boring. Although we could probably sleep a lot more... which would be nice... and my wedding would be SOOOO much cheaper... but still. what would dating be like?

Mommy Lisa said...

You need to read Yummy Mummy's post from the other day! Ha ha ha . What's the deal with food...
http://theyummymummy.blogspot.com/2007/11/seinfeld-to-letterman-whats-deal-with.html

Gunfighter said...

We'd have larger populations, more widespread diseases as a result.

The explosive population would cause greater use of resources and the need for "Lebensraum". We'd have more frequent and more deadly wars.

Humanity would suffer.

More people not starving means that nations would kill more people by orders of magnitude.

Oh, and I'm not normally so gloomy.

Hugs & kisses

GF

dguzman said...

I've been wishing for an Awesomebar type of food substitute forever. But in my fantasy, you wouldn't HAVE to eat it; you could still get Indian food or whatever, but when you're rushed or you don't feel like cooking or you're broke, you could just eat an Awesomebar and move on. I think it would be neat.