How natural is our food? How relevant is that word for the design of future food?

Ever since we were hunter-gatherers, we have learnt from nature to produce food increasingly efficiently. Hunter-gatherers collect their food directly from nature; we currently get our food from agriculture and domesticated crops and animals with significantly changed DNA, and more or less complex production and processing steps. Even though food production and products are increasingly distant from nature, consumers have strong positive perceptions about 'natural' when it relates to food. This perception of naturalness is widely used in food marketing, but has also reached formal policies and regulation. Ethical debates are ongoing about soilless horticulture, genome editing and processed food, leading to various dilemmas. Where do we draw the line of 'naturalness' now, and how will that affect the future of our food? There is a complex relationship between the perception of 'natural' and the terms 'healthy' and 'sustainable'. When looking at our food and how it is designed, it would be interesting to see how the definition of 'naturalness' evolves in the future. We conclude in our analysis that there is either no such thing as truly natural food, or that all our food is intrinsically natural since it is all derived from nature and natural processes. However, 'technology' often has a negative connotation when connected to food. Future food trends may need to take this perception of naturalness into account, but in the absence of clear definitions, the dilemmas will continue to create space for innovations.