Robert Heinlein’s Farmer in the Sky this isn’t. Nevertheless, Heinlein would have been fascinated with the concept in the linked article, below. Heinlein was big on comestibles in his books, whether it was “syntho-steaks” or “yeast chops” or “Wise Girl Malthusian Lozenges.” And over two decades after his passing, a number of products are approaching what could be called syntho steaks; “Quorn” is pretty close to yeast chops, and the Malthusian lozenges*…well, that’s an old story, by now.

In this real future, however, Johnny Appleseed won’t be aboard Spaceship Bifrost, bound for a terraformed Ganymede. He’ll be out there on the Las Vegas skyline.

The Future of Farming: Reaching for the Sky (and down in the basement)

When you think of a farm your mind may invoke images of rolling fields, tractors and perhaps a cow or two. But in the future – not so! Farms are movin’ from the country and into your nearest metropolis faster than you might think…

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*A contraceptive lozenge, mentioned in Stranger in a Strange Land. I read the book many years ago, and for whatever reason, I had in my mind transformed/confabulated these “Wise Girl Malthusian lozenges” into a non-existent product called “Nice Girl Cola.” This only became clear to me when I began a fruitless web-search for “Nice Girl Cola,” which led me to the Malthusian lozenges.

Kinda catchy, though, isn’t it? Nice Girl Cola. I like the ring of that.