To completely eliminate transit between source and table — and the need for egg traceability labels — British Omlet brings hens to consumers' gardens and fresh eggs to their table every morning. The company designed a hen kit for urban and suburban gardens, aimed at first-time chicken owners, families and eco-savvy individuals. How it works? Omlet supplies organically reared and fully vaccinated female chickens (no early morning cock-a-doodle-doo), at a cost of GBP 365 (USD 700 / EUR 550). The two-hen service comes complete with an Eglu, an eye-catching, 21st century version of the henhouse. In its first three years of business, the company sold 10,500 Eglus and is now also offering a larger version, the Eglu Cube, capable of housing up to 10 chickens.
philips design recently completed a design probe looking at the future of food. the project investigated how we might eat and source our food 15-20 years from now. the probe looks at social trends occurring today and extrapolates them to project possible futures. the research led the designers to create three projects which solidified their ideas. the first is ‘home farming’ which is a self-contained farm for growing a portion of your food inside. the design is a tall and slender shelf-like unit with separate levels for different purposes such as growing plants and raising fish. the next concept is ‘diagnostic kitchen’, a nutrition monitor which gives personalized information on your food. the design comes with a swallowable sensor which will tell you what and how much to eat based on your health and nutrition requirements. the final concept is ‘food creation’, a cooking device for printing food. the device would take in ingredients and combine them together, printing them into the desired shape and consistency.
