Humans NEED 4 things to survive: food, water, shelter, and air. But what if we could survive without the first of those things: food. Here we'll discuss the financial, social, and global effects of not having to eat as well as the alternatives to ingesting food.

Money, Money, Money

According to the ERS (Economical Research Service) of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), the food industry in 2019 racked in a whopping 1.77 trillion dollars in food and beverage sales in grocery stores, restaurants, and retailers. Individual households spent an average (split into 5 chunks by income) of between $4,400 and $13,897. In this individualized section on the view of money, imagine saving thousands of dollars a year (and then investing it to make even more money!).

Society

On the other hand, despite saving so much money, the more social of you guys would lose out on cocktail hours, dinner dates, and hanging out at cafes. Across the world, food is a huge staple in certain cultures. I know for a fact, as a Chinese person who grew up in the restaurant business, food is the backbone of conversations, and fighting over food and food-places is a common pastime that binds friends together. In fact, once covid-19 is over, my friends and I would love to get together and tour cities, seeking out the best restaurants.

Worldly Consequences

Now from the worldly stance, there are good and bad things to consider. As previously mentioned, the food industry is a booming one that brings in trillions of dollars a year. Losing out on all that money would put millions of people whose lives depend on that industry in jeopardy. Bartenders, waitresses, restaurant owners, big brand chains, and farmers would lose out on their jobs and livelihood. Without a need for farmland, it's quite possible that the midwest would be quickly industrialized and turned into dirty, polluting factories. On the other hand, without the need for food, we wouldn't need to slaughter animals for food. Nor would the food industry be able to continue to contribute to over a quarter of global pollution and greenhouse gases. Also, without the need to eat, people would need less money to survive. They wouldn't need to worry so much about feeding themselves so they can afford to live with less money. Without the need to eat, it would fix the problem of famines that plague so many people across the globe.

Plausible?

However, is this even possible? Of course, there are organisms, such as plants, that can photosynthesis and some bacteria who can turn gasses into energy to survive without engulfing anything but could a human function with only these passive sources of energy? On one hand, we'll probably never know since there aren't any brained organisms with legs that doesn't eat things. The energy required to walk, run, and generally move may be too great for the comparatively little amount of energy produced through photosynthesis. Even so, I think it would be cool if eating became at least optional. Feel free to share your thoughts below!