Business bookshelf: 'The Taste of Tomorrow'

"What's for dinner?" is a question most of us ask every day in hopes of having the answer by nightfall.

Josh Schonwald, a journalist based in Evanston, Ill., wonders what will be on the table in 2035.

His search of discovery takes him from his local farmers market to the fertile fields of California to an Appalachian fish farm in Virginia to a Dutch laboratory working on test-tube meat.

Food used to be fun. No one, really, thought too much about where their food came from or if something that tasted so good could possibly be bad for them. It was one big, heady, delicious binge.

No more. Today seems to be one endless morning-after. Food is news, the stuff of grim political polemics.

Schonwald examines the issues, the personalities and the trends in a fast-moving trip through the multibillion-dollar food business.

The opening chapter's title tells you where he's going: The Next Salmon and the Bagged Salmon Moment. In exploring what we'll be eating in 2035, he weaves a story of taste and technology, environmental demands and consumer desires.

Laudably open about his beliefs and attitudes, Schonwald never strays too far into one ideological camp or another. He does not preach.

The book offers not only his educated guess about what dinner will be in 2035 but also some dishes we can try right now to experience "the mouthfeel of the future."

These nine recipes range from Pamela Ronald's mutant rice with genetically engineered papaya to Josh's emu chili. It's a witty capper to a provocative book.