Parents' Guide to

Future Food

By Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Salty lingo skewers this otherwise kid-friendly food show.

TV Planet Green Reality TV 2010
Future Food Poster Image

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What's the Story?

FUTURE FOOD is a reality series about a team of molecular gastronomists who use creativity and cutting-edge technology to recycle food. Executive chef Omar Cantu and pastry chef Ben Roche, the co-owners of Chicago's renowned Moto Restaurant, head up a team of chefs and assistants to find ways of repurposing unique ingredients and/or food items into a variety of dishes that look interesting and taste good. Using lab equipment, cutting-edge technology, and traditional cooking methods, they create dishes that look and taste like cheese, meat, and other foods by reworking things like flowers and french toast. They also test their recipes against those of other award-winning chefs to see if their recycled meals can satisfy picky eaters. Not every concoction is successful, but with some fine-tuning they are able satisfy their clients while showing how their work can potentially help the environment in the future.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

The series is inspired by the idea that food can be recycled in order to reduce waste and help alleviate some of the world's environmental issues. It also underscores the need to think about food and the way we prepare it differently in order to make this happen.

Traditional cooks may be a little turned off by the team's novel use of petri dishes and liquid nitrogen to prepare meals. But Cantu and Roche, who have patented many of their unique techniques, use technology as a way of highlighting how it can be used to successfully feed the Earth's population in the future. They definitely get high marks for innovation, and demonstrate how when it comes to recycling food, the possibilities are endless. 

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about food recycling and food waste. What impact does wasting food have on the planet? Are there ways that food can be prepared to minimize waste without using technology and/or special techniques? Can you think of ways to recycle some of your favorite foods?

  • What exactly is a molecular gastronomist? Is it a chef? A scientist? Or both? What kind of training do you need to be able to do this kind of cooking?

TV Details

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