A Food Futurologist Talks About The 'New Mouthfeels' Ahead

"Food futurologist" Dr. Morgaine Gaye recently spoke to The A.V. Club about "how the pop culture sausage" gets made, and how global trends, from architecture and design to geo-politics, affects how we eat, and "what the future of food looks like."

For instance, according to Dr. Gaye, all-consuming trends like adding bacon to everything (which The A.V. Club estimates began circa 2009), is part of a macro-trend that the futurologist calls "back to the ranch," which means not only more "wild cooking" but more cowboy fashion and films (Dallas Buyer's Club).

Futhermore, says Dr. Gaye, there's even a second wave of "interest in the pig" and it's happening right now, in the form of salami.

"The bacon bit was a little bit contrived, whereas this is a bit more wild. It's a bit more artisan, cut up on a board. You feel like you might be in Italy or the Outback or whatever. So that's the second wave of the bacon thing."

As for other upcoming food trends, Dr. Gaye predicts the decline of "smaller, less space, thinner, less," in favor of foods with more volume. "There will be new mouthfeels around that," she says.

What else?

"If there were one thing I would put my money on in the next five years, it would be seaweed...It's got a multitude of benefits, which hits lots of targets, such as sustainability, health, diet, and cost. It's not an expensive thing. It's just really banging on every single trend."

Read the full interview on The A.V. Club.

Karen Lo is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @appleplexy.