{"id":1968,"date":"2025-05-08T16:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T16:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2025-05-13T13:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T13:11:10","slug":"these-supermarket-essentials-will-be-extinct-by-2050-heres-what-youll-be-eating-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/08\/these-supermarket-essentials-will-be-extinct-by-2050-heres-what-youll-be-eating-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"These supermarket essentials will be \u2018extinct\u2019 by 2050 \u2014 here\u2019s what you\u2019ll be eating instead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Weekly\t<\/div>
The food we eat is going to change drastically by 2050 (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Onions and apples are staples in kitchens<\/a> across the nation, but in 25 years\u2019 time, they might have disappeared from cupboards, fridges and supermarket<\/a> shelves.<\/p>\n

This is according to Dr Morgaine Gaye, a food<\/a> futurologist, who told Metro<\/strong> that some of the most common foods in the UK are at risk of going \u2018extinct\u2019 by 2050.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The expert claimed that global warming<\/a> is going to have a major impact on some of the products we \u2018take for granted\u2019, changing what we can grow and buy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a bit like frogs boiling in a pot,\u2019 she explains. \u2018It\u2019s so slow we don\u2019t really notice but it\u2019s getting wetter and warmer in Britain and [that means] the food being offered to us will change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which foods are at risk of going extinct by 2025?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t\t\"Strawberry\t<\/div>
We take common fruit like strawberries for granted in the UK (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018We will see a decline in things that we\u2019ve always grown in the UK, such as common wheat, strawberries, apples and onions. These sorts of things that we just take for granted, as we\u2019ve always managed to produce them in the southeast, they will not be as available.\u2019<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just fruit and vegetables that we\u2019ll be seeing less of, apparently as Dr Morgaine predicts meat (beef especially) and fish are going to be impacted too, due to a combination of climate issues, overfishing and skyrocketing costs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Agriculture is fed, the animals are fed on crops and if there\u2019s a drought because things are getting warmer, then meat prices are going to go up and we\u2019re not going to be able to feed as many cows. Then you add in the carbon emissions and it suddenly becomes a really difficult equation, so people will have to start making different choices.\u2019<\/p>\n

Changing tastes will also play a big role, with the expert believing more and more of us will start to enjoy vegetarian meals.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Woman\t<\/div>
We might all be eating less meat in 2050, opting for vegetarian meals (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018There are so many vegetarian<\/a> recipes now, but we\u2019re only just understanding the real potential of vegetables,\u2019 she says. \u2018There\u2019s a million things you can do with them and a million ways to mix them into your diet.\u2019<\/p>\n

We might even find ourselves being able to grow our own herbs, micro-greens and plant proteins on our clothing one day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teaming up with HelloFresh, for their Dinner from the Future 2025 report, Dr Morgaine, as well as Dr Joseph Poore a climate scientist at Oxford University, also revealed that there will be a rise in urban agriculture, which will even include innovations in material science \u2018allowing nomads to stay self-sufficient by using their own clothing to grow food on the go\u2019.<\/p>\n

The example they gave was to imagine a puffer jacket, where each pocket is used to grow plants. <\/p>\n

Dr Morgaine is also hopeful we\u2019ll see a reduction in ultra-processed food (UPF)<\/a> over time \u2013 but its the consumers that will be largely responsible for this change, not the climate.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Dr\t<\/div>
Dr Morgaine Gaye is hopeful we might eat less UPFs in the future (Picture: Supplied by Dr Morgaine Gaye)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018It\u2019s tricky and governments ultimately will sept in, but big food consortiums make a lot of money and are very powerful, so it also needs to come from consumers, because we all vote with our wallets,\u2019 she explains.<\/p>\n

\u2018We need to basically say we don\u2019t want to buy that any more, it\u2019s not what we need. But that will only happen if we starte to be better educated around our bodies and how we\u2019re doing them a disservice with UPFs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Over time I hope we\u2019ll start to understand our gut microbiome, our DNA and how foods and meal kits can be tailored to our real specifics. If we have a full picture of health and wellness, we might not recognise [UPFs] as food.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Devil's\t<\/div>
Kelp could become a common staple on dinner plates (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What foods will we be eating in the future?<\/h2>\n

While the numbers of strawberries and onions may dwindle, a warmer climate could mean we see big changes in the agricultural lanscape.<\/p>\n

Different growing conditions would require a shift in crops, so what we are able to grow would change. This could mean an increase in such as coffee, olives and tropical fruits being grown closer to home.<\/p>\n

\u2018These will be grown in the Mediterranean rather than further out and perhaps we\u2019ll start to become more of a wine area, growing grapes,\u2019 Dr Morgaine predicts.<\/p>\n

\u2018Olives and sweet potatoes will also more abundantly grow in the UK and Northern Europe \u2013 things that haven\u2019t ordinarily been available to us before.\u2019<\/p>\n

Dinnertime will also look rather different by 2050 with several surprising foods slated to become commonplace, according to the experts.<\/p>\n

These include kelp, dandelions, cactus (prickly pear), shellfish, olives, mushrooms, milk thistle, sea fennel, barberry, sorrel, ribwort plantain, camelina and carob. The latter is particularly interesting, as Dr Morgaine says it could become a chocolate substitute.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Carob\t<\/div>
People might end up eating carob instead of chocolate (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are a number of reasons why these particular foods could become the norm in future, but a big one is that they can help reduce carbon emissions. <\/p>\n

Instead of emitting greenhouse gases, some of the products are able to absorb them. Take seaweed and kelp, for instance, which are already a staple in many Asian cuisines. These are photosynthetic in nature, so help remove carbon from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, certain species of cacti have been found to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into calcium carbonate. <\/p>\n

Shellfish are also interesting as they act as \u2018carbon sinks\u2019 by sequestering carbon in their shells. <\/p>\n

\n
Comment now<\/title><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text\">How do you feel about the potential food changes predicted for 2050?<\/span><\/span><a class=\"metro-comment-cta__button\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\">Comment Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>She adds: \u2018We\u2019ll see clever things happen with ingredients like these that many people might not be so keen on eating at first. It\u2019s all about the way they are presented.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Slowly we\u2019ll start to use these things in different ways, as other cultures have always done, but it takes time for food to become a part of our own cultural narrative \u2013 it won\u2019t suddenly be that everyone is going to be eating olives for every meal.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You only have to think back to the late nineties when sushi was first introduced into the UK and we got the likes of YO! Sushi and its sushi conveyor belt. British people didn\u2019t like the idea of raw fish at first, but now it\u2019s everywhere.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Get in touch by emailing <a href=\"mailto:MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk\">MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The food we eat is going to change drastically by 2050 (Picture: Getty Images) Onions and apples are staples in kitchens across the nation, but in 25 years\u2019 time, they might have disappeared from cupboards, fridges and supermarket shelves. This is according to Dr Morgaine Gaye, a food futurologist, who told Metro that some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1968"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1977,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968\/revisions\/1977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}