Bites of Dystopia: A Grim Feast for Halloween

IN DYSTOPIAN FICTION, food goes beyond the question of sustenance; it is a potent symbol of control, inequality and survival. Synthetic foods, often the only available option for the masses, underscore the dehumanisation of life in these futures. Whether it’s Soylent Green’s chilling revelation of cannibalism hidden in plain sight, the “Protein” Bars of Snowpiercer, or Oryx and Crake’s lab-grown ChickieNobs, these fabricated foods offer commentary on the cost of technological progress, a society predicated on scarcity, and power imbalances. Here's a sampling:

1. ChickieNobs (Chicken + Knobs) – Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

These are lab-grown chicken parts with no heads or brains, engineered purely for consumption. The name is a whimsical mashup of “chicken” and “knobs,” evoking something artificial and detached from natural farming.

2. Soylent Green (Soy + Lentil/Protein)

The iconic example from Soylent Green. The name itself is a portmanteau that hints at a synthetic, plant-based food source, although it hides the grim truth that it's made from human remains.

3. Synthi-Food (Synthetic + Food) – Judge Dredd comics

In the world of Judge Dredd, real food is scarce, and citizens rely on a synthetic substitute called Synthi-Food. The name itself reflects its artificial origins, combining "synthetic" and "food" in a utilitarian manner.

4. Vat-Grown Meat (Vats + Meat) – The Expanse series

In the Expanse universe, much of the food is grown in vats, particularly on space stations where traditional farming isn’t possible. The term “vat-grown meat” is a straightforward but impactful combination of "vats" and "meat," emphasising its synthetic, mass-produced nature.

5. CorpseStarch (Corpse + Starch) – Warhammer 40,000

In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, CorpseStarch is a grim food product made from the bodies of the deceased, processed into a starchy, edible substance. The name bluntly merges “corpse” and “starch,” highlighting its macabre origins.

6. Cupcakuppa (Cupcake + Cup) – Wall-E 

In a highly consumerist dystopia where humans live in space, food is often consumed in liquid form, allowing it to be easily transported, consumed, and reused with minimal waste. At one point in Wall-E, an announcement introduces a new flavour, “Cupcake-in-a-Cup.” This reinforces the idea that even traditionally solid foods have been reduced to a liquid form, allowing for efficient consumption while eliminating the need for plates, utensils, or solid food storage.

7. ReHydrated Meals (Rehydrate + Meals) – Dune

In Dune, water is precious, and food must often be rehydrated for consumption. These meals are compacted and dehydrated, only becoming edible after adding water. The name plays on the rehydration process which is an essential part of their synthetic preservation.

8. Bug Bar (Insect/bug + Protein bar) – Snowpiercer

The lower-class passengers aboard the Snowpiercer train survive on protein bars made from ground-up insects and minimal resources. Protein bars play a key role in depicting the stark divide between the classes aboard the train. These bars are made to be compact, calorie-dense, and efficient for survival in an apocalyptic, resource-limited setting.

Across various narratives, we see that food becomes a means of societal control, where the elite indulge in natural or lavish meals, and the rest are relegated to industrial slop or sinister substitutes. The names of these synthetic foods — portmanteaus that blend the familiar with the alien — serve as a reminder of just how far humanity has strayed from its roots. In many cases, these foods are efficient but soulless, emphasising the moral cost of survival often comes at a moral cost.

Through these invented foods, dystopian fiction mirrors real-world anxieties about overpopulation, environmental collapse, and the ethics of food production. These narratives force us to confront uncomfortable questions: What are we willing to eat to survive? And at what point does sustenance cross the line into horror?