The Puffing Gun was Here and We all missed it!

While I was browsing the Internet for breaking news in the food and health world (aka researching Pop-Tart flavors), I came across the object of all my dreams and desires, everything I’ve ever wanted, the holy grail of all kitchen devices: The Puffing Gun…a cereal gun. I immediately turned over to Julie, the Eat Up New York Healthy Eater, and together we oohed and ahhed over the magical machine. Was it real? How do we get one? Can it fit in one of our tiny Manhattan kitchens? Would we have to quit our jobs, spend all of our savings, and move to *gasp* New Jersey to live spaciously with our newborn cereal gun?!

Crushed by the Puffing Gun

To our disappointment, we found that it not only costs thousands of dollars and weighs more than a car, but it’s also not for sale—there’s only one in the whole world! After calming my heart palpitations, I did more research. I had to find out where it came from, what it was doing in the world, and who to send a thank you note to for fulfilling my dreams.

The puffing gun was actually part of a promotional pop-up exhibit in NYC for The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD), opening in 2019. The food weapon, built by angels and sent from the Food Gods, converts grains, corn, or rice into cereal and shoots it out at a rate of about 150lbs of puffs per hour. If America ever knuckles down on gun control, we beg the future President to make an exception for the puffing gun. Jokes aside, the contraption was really made by engineers at Puritan Manufacturing in Omaha, Nebraska.  Live demonstrations were held throughout the City, and onlookers got to sample various puffs. Seriously, how did we miss this?!

Succeeding the remarkably awesome pre-opening pop-up, MOFAD will aim to educate its future visitors on all aspects of food including culture, history, technology, politics, art and more through edible exhibits and programs catering to all five senses. Another goal is that visitors will leave the museum with the ability to make better food choices, not just for themselves, but for the environment as well.

Behind the concept for a museum dedicated to food and drink, is Dave Arnold, a Yale alum and Lower East Side resident. The former pizza deliveryman turned food-tech genius has an extraordinary resume: author of Liquid Intelligence, contributing author for Food Arts Magazine, Time Magazine, and Esquire, guest on “The Today Show,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” as well as radio talk show host, Director of Culinary Technology at The International Culinary Center, part-owner of Booker and Dax, and renowned food scientist.

The Power of MOFAD

On a serious note, as someone who graduated with a Food Studies minor, food education is one of the most important topics in our society right now. MOFAD will have the power to teach visitors of all ages about sustainability, agriculture, genetic modification, nutrition, diet, and public health through interactive learning. Support for food education is necessary in order to solve national and global issues such as hunger, malnutrition, obesity, and increasing urbanization. Have you ever thought about the fact that the population is increasing by millions at the same time that farmland is decreasing? How are we going to feed more people on less land? MOFAD is the cultural center that has been missing from NYC because it will inspire visitors to help find answers to questions like this.

We just hope the puffing gun is safe and sound right now, being delicately maintained to make another debut sometime soon… Dibs to be the first volunteer to operate the machine!