There are hundreds of food magazines. Recipes, ingredients, restaurants, trends… But none of them focus on the future of food, until now. MOLD is a platform about designing the future of food. Established in 2013 by LinYee Yuan, MOLD has published over 400 stories online, curated an exhibition, published a newspaper and hosted a pop-up cafe. Now they are taking their ideas to print and have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund their first editions.
By the year 2030, the United Nation predicts that there will be more people on this planet than we can feed. Technology and science can change how and what we eat, but design is critical in bringing these ideas together to create products that are elegant, intelligent and useful in combatting the coming food crisis. It is now more urgent than ever to engage in this conversation about the future of food.
The money raised for MOLD will help launch their print magazine and fund research, writing and commissioned artwork for their debut issues.
MOLD's Debut Issue
Issue 01: Designing the Human Microbiome is almost done and it will be a groundbreaking, 100+ page full-color glossy magazine with 20 stories featuring the work of talented chefs and designers including Daisy Alexandra Ginsberg, Marije Vogelzang and Kenya slow food guru Samson Kiiru. The issue will discuss everything from kimchi philosophy to natural wine, sewer robots to Japanese toilets, synthetic biology to fungal futures and how these ideas might help us feed a hungry planet in the near future.
Heavy-hitting designers are not just the subjects of MOLD but are also collaborators. Issue 01 is being designed by the talented team of Eric Hu and Matt Tsang who have created a type treatment and unique system for showcasing these ideas.
“We’re thrilled about the opportunity to explore topics around the future of food through issue-specific deep dives. We’ve planned the themes for the first six issues and are already working on Issue 02: A Place at the Table which will explore experimental utensils, virtual reality dining, nomadic furniture and more,” says founder Yuan.
If the funding goal is reached, MOLD will produce the following issues:
02: A Place at the Table - experimental utensils, virtual reality dining, furniture, synaesthesia, dining rituals
03: Waste Not Want Not - reducing food waste, edible packaging
04: Kitchen Confidential - smart kitchen, big data, custom meal kits, food "technology" in the home
05: New Agriculture - personal produce, lab-grown meats, insect farms
06: Terra Nova - farming on Mars, astronaut food, climate cuisine
