Something deemed natural is usually associated with being pure, or “not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material.” Artificial aversions are fueled by media proclaiming the toxicity of synthetics, food flavoring to synthetic chemicals--a common narrative that validates our society’s romantic attachment to the natural.

There are at least three approaches to asking “What if?” in relation to food: diegetic, figurative and realist. Diegetic speculative gastronomy involves the creation of props and images of food. Figurative speculative gastronomy consists of metaphors that you can eat. Realist speculative gastronomy is the thing itself, not metaphors; foods from the future that can be served to human eaters, today.
-genomicgastronomy