Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Big Food

Today, my students, in a class called "Literature of Science Fiction and Fantasy," began an annual project: "The Sci-fi Invention Project. " What they have to do is to come up with an invention -- a machine of some kind -- that solves a social problem. I've gotten glasses that prevent racism; I've gotten machines that stop drunks from driving; I've gotten anti-obesity devices, anti-stupidity hats, force-fields for preventing street violence and the like.

I've also gotten a lot of machines meant to end world hunger. These devices often have to do with syntheses that result in food.

"Ions" come into play, a lot. And various waves named with Greek letters.

Well, the gist of the assignment is that the year is 2038 and the inventor has to present his or her invention to the class, which plays the part of "NECSI" -- the Neo-Earth Committee for Societal Improvements. The inventor's goal is to convince NECSI to send the invention proposal to the President, in the Green House (the name was changed, for obvious reasons, some time in the 2020s).

To make a long story short, the exercise is meant to get them thinking like sci-fi writers, but, also, it is a rhetorical exercise in writing a problem-solution paper. One of the main objectives is to get them thinking of social ramifications of the use of science. Each year, we have excellent discussions, especially when the "council" thinks the inventor has gone too far -- taken away human rights, etc.

This year, a student presented a device that fascinated me in terms of its potential impact on the economy. I'm by no means an economist (I have trouble calculating tips) but this was pretty compelling.

The device was meant to end world hunger. It was a sort of gun that enlarges food. The young lady who invented it was careful to explain that she meant only to end hunger, not to make a profit. The price for the gun, in 2038, mind you, was to be ten dollars. In short, anyone could have one.

We got around to talking about what might happen to the economy with a device like this (even if the first thing that popped into my mind was an image of a Big Mac the size of a beanbag chair).

I need the help of those of you who are not economically-challenged. What would happen?

I would imagine that restaurants and food-producers would no longer need to make anything large. A pizza place, for example, could make pizzas with a three-inch circumference. They could charge fifteen dollars for each pizza. This would clearly be a boon to the pizza-place: less ingredients used + pizzas sold at the normal price for, maybe, a pizza that uses six-times the ingredients = big profit margin.

One would be able to leave the supermarket with one little bag full of little foods and simply puff them up at home, as needed. Supermarkets would be able to stock infinitely more variety.

Of course, I guess the impact of this would go beyond economic -- imagine the increase in obesity when there is always more cake; when steaks are the size of welcome mats. You know there would be tubs full of ice-cream with basketball cherries in houses across the globe . . .


This will  be in my head for a week. I just know it. Help me out. What other ramifications would there be?


  1. The first thing that popped into my head was the amount of food waste that would result. Sure making a piece of cake the size of an original super computer sounds great, but its going to get stale, and enlarged fruit and meat will too. I see piles of rejected food, and, since quantity will be reduced due to people owning these guns, what would the waste be used for? would we be able to use them for fertilizer since farmers could probably own less land, employ fewer people, and still make a solid profit? Food for thought, (yes we needed a bad pun here)


  2. Hmmm . . . waste. There's something I should have thought of. (...of which I should have thought.)

  3. One possible economic ramification: A massive drop in the number of jobs in the shipping and transportation industry. (I imagine benefit concerts for truckers and freight-train loaders.)

  4. I think that this young lady should receive a 100 on her project :)

  5. Hmm. Maybe the young lady could also invent a gun that makes grades bigger, too...