On a local level, M T Anderson’s Feed is set in a city in the United States. It is the future and the environment appears to have been the victim of time and greed; clouds and light are artificial and, depending on your financial situation, can be adjusted at a house level or community level; toxic waste is prevalent, and oxygen is garnished from machines deemed to be more efficient than the trees they replaced; and there is a great disparity between the wealthy and the poor. The two main characters, a wealthy Titus and a poorer Violet, highlight the differences.

In this futuristic world, cars move through the sky, children are custom designed and genetically modified, food is factory farmed, and an all intrusive internet-like technology called ‘the feed’ connects 73% of Americans to a virtual world. The companies that have emerged as power-brokers in this world control the feed and have taken control of education, trademarking and producing ‘school’. Youths, the central characters of the story, spend their time on online activities, including shopping, chatting and enjoying entertainment. They are swept along with fashion and trends at such a rate that if the feed shifts and promotes a new trend, girls will head to the bathroom and reappear with a new hairstyle, or within weeks young characters will have completely changed fashion or highlighted physical characteristics or flaws as depicted in the feed.

On a global level, Feed shows a world impacted by the increased consumerism of the United States. Toxic waste and environmental destruction in South America has caught the attention of the Global Alliance, a multinational regulatory body. The novel also explores the notion that local greed can have international impact; in particular, how one nation, the United States, through seizing power and exploiting others, will create far-reaching devastation for many, while only benefiting a few.

Feed, as a futuristic novel, also has an interplanetary level as evidenced when the young characters attend the Moon. Largely viewed as a party destination, and annexed by the United States against the will of other nations, the Moon is colonised and its lack of gravity exploited, leading to its becoming a hedonistic resort. Other planets can be visited and are often seen as tourist destinations.

The setting, in relation to time, hints at an apocalyptic end to the rise that has brought so many luxuries to the lives of those in the USA. The impending war which may result from the environmental arrogance of the nation is only one of the factors waiting at its doorstep. There are widespread lesions and weeping wounds appearing on the citizens. The pervasive ignorance which has resulted, from believing everything on the feed at the expense of critical thinking, is silently contributing to the impending disaster. Characters highlight their sores, treating them like jewelery, rather than question how or why so many are being inflicted. This provides an underwritten sense that society is blindly walking into an impending disaster.