The Future of Food: Inhaled Food

Inhale Your Food

Tenley Steinke

 A. 
-http://listverse.com/2013/11/06/10-bizarre-food-developments-we-may-see-in-the-future/
-http://inhabitat.com/harvard-professor-makes-inhalable-coffee-no-cup-required/le-whif3/
-http://aerolife.com

B. 
As I was scrolling through the internet,  I came across an interesting concept: inhaling your food-LITERALLY. Usually when we talk about inhaling our food, we say that as a figure of speech for someone who eats extremely fast because they're hungry. However, a Harvard professors, David Edwards, designed a way to inhale chocolate in 2012. Edwards called this product the 'Le Whif.' Since then, this product has become a trend in Europe and in Northern parts of North America. The Le Whif has been modified by a Canadian chef, Norman Aitken, who calls his development the Le Whaf. They Le Whaf takes form of a vase with an ultrasound device implanted below. Typically using soup, the ultrasound shakes the soup into a vapor, and then the consumer breathes it in through a straw. Another company came up with devices like these: AeroLife. They developed products to improve sleep, travel, sport, energy, immunity, and coffee. Apparently, the AeroLife devices contain a few hundred milligrams of nutrition through one inhale. Tiny solid and liquid particles flow into the mouth and into the body-providing both taste and nutrition. Some may see these devices as unnecessary, but they do provide several benefits: they are quick to use and quick to take effect, you can use them any time and any place, they contain zero calories and zero sugars, you can choose how much or little you intake, you're only consuming the good nutrients rather than both good and bad. 

C.
1. On a global scale, this device would be awesome. In a lot of third world countries, tons people (especially children) die or become chronically ill because of a lack of nutrients. Though these devices may be expensive and may have  a lot of developing to do before hitting the markets all over the world, they would provide nutrients and hunger satisfaction to those in need. Sometimes people don't have access to the nutrients they need and starve to death. Not only would these nutrients lessen the appetite of starving people, but would also help to lead healthier lifestyles-preventing disorders caused by malnutrition.
2. On a national and local scale, because these devices provide healthy eating, it may help the population in North America control obesity. Across the world, Americans are first typically referred to as 'fat' when being described by other cultures. This device may reduce the appetite and give people only the healthy nutrients they need. Though they provide different flavors and different categories of needs,  I could not see annihilable food taking place of regular food. 
I think these devices also provide a step towards the medicine community. For me in particular, there has been talk about inhalable Insulin for diabetics. With this technology advancing, I could see inhalable medicine becoming the next step. 
3. To positively impact the future, I think more flavors and foods should be developed. I also think they should make these devices accessible and affordable for the people in need. More research could also be done to successfully develop inhalable insulin-eliminating injections for diabetics all over the world. Also, the majority of these devices have refillable pods, but from what I have read, these pods do not last very long, so to make a pod that lasts longer than five inhales would be beneficial.
4. To negatively impact the future, I could see these devices being expensive and unsustainable-making it difficult for people in third world countries to access and use. I could also see this concept of annihilable food taking place of actual food which would eliminate TONS of jobs in food industries. This concept could also be a gateway to inhaling bad things like drugs, alcohol, etc. 
5. Human/Social Tech, Super Tech, Limit Tech

Questions:
1. Would you use these devices as a way to fulfill your hunger?
2. Could you ever see this becoming of use to you? Why or why not?