Source: Atlas Obscura
Rob Rhinehart was working at a tech startup in San Francisco, living off a diet of ramen and corn dogs, when he launched a vegan meal-replacement powder. It was 2014, and he’d collected nearly $1.5 million in preorders via crowdfunding. He called the product Soylent, which has since evolved into a widely-distributed brand that includes premixed bottled drinks.
The first mention of the term soylent is as a soy-and-lentil “steak” featured in Make Room! Make Room!, a 1966 sci-fi novel. Set in 1999, the plot centers around overconsumption in New York City, whose population has ballooned to 35 million. The protagonist discovers pandemonium after a neighborhood shop puts “soylent” on sale and is promptly looted.
Charlton Heston’s 1973 film, Soylent Green, is inspired by the dystopian tale….