FOODFIC: Bumped - Megan McCafferty

First comes pregnancy, then comes cravings…I figured the only question was: In the 2036 society where teen Surrogettes “bump” for infertile “obsolescents” (everyone over 18), what kinds of food will all those pregnant girls be craving?

Except that the stars of the story – Melody (a “pro”) and her newly-discovered, separated-at-birth, identical twin Harmony ( a “Churchie”) – aren’t “preggy.” Still, the girls have to eat – mainly at the U.S. Buff-A, which makes me laugh because I live near a similar “Café Americana.” The fictional Buff-A menu boasts items like Philly cheesesteak, Maine lobster rolls, and New Mexican tacos supremos, but we all know that, as much as such places try to bring regional cuisines to the masses, the replicas never live up to the real thing. You can’t get good Cajun food in the Northwest, and you can’t get a good NY slice anywhere else.

So the more interesting foods in the book are the innovations of the future, like Glyco-GoGo bars and Potent Pale Ale. We’re not given any more description (or ingredients) than those names, but we can make some decent guesses what they are based on the baby-crazed society, and that’s enough to un-sell me on 2036 cuisine…at least until I see what’s served up in the sequel.