There are no kitchens in any homes or places of work to prepare meals in Nutopia. All meals are requested by people using the Guardian System, they are prepared in the mostly automated Meal Preparation Center, and then they are delivered on the Under Ground Pod Network.
Meal Selection
Every citizen in Nutopia is able to request meals for themselves and their families using their Personal Access Device connected to the Guardian System.
Here are some of the features of meal selection:
Suggestions - the Guardian System knows who you are, what meals you have had today and your caloric intake, what meals are suitable for you based on your preferences, and what meals are possible based on the current stocks of foods from the Meal Preparation Center. When reviewing the meal choices, suggestions will be made by the Guardian System to help the person making the request.
Favorites - the Guardian System knows who you are, all the meals you have ever requested, meals you have rated, and the frequency that you request specific meals.
Preferences - all the adjustments you have made to previous meal selections are saved in the Guardian System so the portion size, saltiness, char, cooking time, etc. of everything you have chosen in the past are offered to you when you request a meal.
Allergies and food intolerance - all your allergies to various foods (such as peanuts, seafood, etc.) and intolerance (such as gluten, lactose, etc.) are known in your Citizen Profile. The suggestions and options given to you during meal selection take these in to account so that you can never order a meal with an ingredient that will make you sick.
Balanced nutrition - to promote the health of citizens, the meal suggestions made my the Guardian System when you are choosing a meal will take in to account various parameters from your food intake so far for the day (how many calories, vitamins, etc.), and various health attributes (your cholesterol level, your BMI level, etc.) and offer suitable meals as recommendations to you.
Customization - when you request a meal you can fine tune your selection so that you get exactly what you want and to minimize food waste. For example, you could choose an entrée and then adjust the amount of meat and vegetables, make the pasta more al dente, and slightly change the cooking of the meat so that it is slightly rarer than the last time you had it.
All this means that your meals are always exactly how you want them to be, you can make sure you don’t overindulge, make sure that you are getting a balanced nutrition, and that there is no unnecessary wasting of food. Children can choose their own meal regardless of what the rest of the family is eating which also prevents wasted food.
Meal Preparation
The Meal Preparation Center is basically an assembly line for freshly prepared meals. Requests are entered by citizens all around the community all day, they are prepared, and then they are dispatched on the Under Ground Pod Network to the people who requested them. The center is mostly automated so that meals can be rapidly prepared, they are consistent so that every time the same meal is ordered then it is exactly the same quality as the last time, and it reduces the amount of human activity to ensure that food is not spoiled and does not contain unnecessary food bacteria.
Here are some of the components of the facility:
Ingredient Preparation
This area is where food that has been harvested is prepared so that it can be used in meals. Fruits and vegetables are washed, peeled, and leaves, roots, and cores are removed. Meat is cut, deboned, skinned and trimmed. Dry ingredients such as nuts, grains, and rice, and liquids like milk, cream, and stock and all other prepared food is loaded in to individual hoppers ready to be used in meal production.
Assembly Line
Meal requests are processed in the order that they are needed. The automated process means that the system knows exactly how long it takes to prepare the meal and deliver it so that completed meals arrive at exactly the time that was stated when the meal was requested. The assembly line can process hundreds of meals at the same time so that a family of four who ordered 4 completely different meals will receive all meals on the same delivery at the same time. The assembly line consists of bays where a specific process is applied to the food (such as mixing, grating, boiling, baking, steaming) until the instructions have been completed and the finished meal is ready for delivery.
Meal Delivery
The completed meal is then plated, covered, vacuum sealed, and then loaded in to a pod for delivery on the Under Ground Pod Network.
Benefits
Convenient – the Guardian System provides a simple way for people to easily request meals using their Personal Access Device.
Open 24/7/365 – the facility is always running and people can request any food or drink at any time of the day or night.
Consistent quality – the food is always exactly as you requested and nothing is ever overcooked or undercooked.
Fresh – the hoppers are loaded with fresh ingredients as needed and the quantities are controlled by the Guardian System which knows the levels of different ingredients that are being requested.
Consistent service - meals are always delivered exactly on time and never spoiled and nothing is ever missing entirely from the meal you requested.
Variety – there are literally thousands of meal choices and new meals are added to the menu all the time. Even the most finicky person can find something they like for every meal.
Customization – the system allows you to customize every aspect of your meal such as quantities of each component and now each one is cooked.
Safety - the minimal amount of human interaction with the food and the just-in-time loading of fresh ingredients means that nothing is ever bad or contaminated with food bacteria.
