Last Yeast

From the SPACE10 newsletter:

Last yeast has made us painfully aware of the limitations of systems that underpin our everyday life: from supply chains and healthcare, to the design of our schools, offices, and neighbourhoods. Now is the time to start overhauling these systems.

While last yeast was, I presume, a typo, it’s a cracking one, as it brought my mind to the notion of a yeastless dystopian future, the run up to which, in the spirit of peak oil, might be nicknamed just that.

“Have you thought much about how you’re going to mark last yeast?”, Niamh asked Jamali.

“Probably with pizza,I reckon,” he replied with moribund resignation, “or perhaps a hot cross bun.”

Contemplating an unleavened future is almost inconceivable. But with bees under threat, the coffee supply threatened by a shipping container shortage and, well, climate change, it is safe to assume that in my lifetime many things that I have taken for granted all my life will simply disappear forever. Probably not yeast. Probably something we least expect, like hyacinths or red paint or merino wool or robins.

In the meantime, enjoy your toast while you can.