Eat Local, Think Lunar

Food is at the heart of human existence: it is what sustains us. Yet, our contemporary food systems are putting astronomical strain on our increasingly fragile planetary ecosystem. Eat Local (Think Lunar) seeks to put the notion of a circular food-system to the ultimate test: how might we not just feed, but nourish the inhabitants of a lunar base? Before the end of this decade NASA plans to establish the Artemis base on the lunar South Pole. We explore the extreme constraints of a totally self-enclosed lunar food system, with special attention to preparation and food waste. The study considers how we might build a food culture with limited and highly variable ingredients. This future-casting illuminates the food system challenges of Spaceship Earth in a new light––where our resources are increasingly constrained and their meals may look progressively like those of a lunar base.