ABSTRACT
This chapter explores contemporary imaginaries of the future through the lens of food. Imaginaries encompass ideas, thoughts, dreams, stories, and visual representations of how we envision what lies ahead. They also influence present-day actions and efforts to realise desired futures. Our analysis draws on texts submitted by the Norwegian public in a qualitative questionnaire, as well as on provotypes – provocative design artifacts – created by design students. The provotypes demonstrate critical speculative perspectives on how imaginaries can translate into future tangible everyday products and services. We find that conceptions of food futures shape broader imaginaries of both the societies we fear and those we desire. Food functions as a key symbolic element, used to express anxieties about societal collapse as well as desires for social cohesion and community. Imaginaries of food scarcity serve as metaphors for the perceived unsustainability of capitalism, which may ultimately lead to societal breakdown. Conversely, imaginaries of locally produced food cultivated in harmony with nature and being self-sustained, symbolise a longing for community and security in an increasingly conflict-ridden and unstable world.
