Time, once again, top survey the inevitable ‘Food Trend’ predictions that come out all over the place in the media this time of year. I’ve had a look at a whole passel of ‘expert’ predictions, from a wide variety of sources, and I’m prepared to pass on their collective wisdom – and mine, too, of course…
A Fresh Veggie bounty: We’ll all be trying to get more of these
into our diets this year – in spite of soaring Produce costs…
There are some realy far-out predictions abouyt novelty food on the rise. this year. Like ‘blue food’, an alleged trend sparked by the pop-up popularity of Ube – a Philippine dish made from a purple Yam called Ube Halaya. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m betting it looks prettier than it tastes. For what it’s worth, Ube has been named the ‘it’ Veggie of 2020 by The New York Times. However, I will not focus on ‘trends such as Ube, which to me seem more like short lived fads. I’m sticking with stuff that we can all relate to..
More Veggies
Most of the so-called experts agree that we’ll all be eating, or trying to eat, more fresh Veggies this year. I’m skeptical, partly because Fresh Produce remains relatively expensive, and partly because preparing it takes more time and effort than opening a can. But the rise of ‘pre-dressed’ Veggies in the supermarkets may be just the thing that convenience lovers will glom onto. Again, though, the pre-sliced-diced-julienned-etc. Veggies are even more expensive than the ‘raw’ ones. And don’t forget, the official Food Price increase index indicates Produce prices will continue to rise faster than those of almost all other foods in 2020.
Veggie Meat Substitutes
These new products, such as the Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat came on the market in a big way for the first time last year. And they took off like a rocket in popularity. Again, I think it’s a great idea, not only because we should all be eating more Veggie proteins, but because it helps reduce our reliance on environmentally unsustainable ‘real Meat’. Alas, these products are still more expensive than their ‘real’ counterparts, and I don’t see the great mass of home cooks, struggling to make ends meet feeding the family, will consider Veggie Meat Substitutes anything more than a novelty through 2020.
Zero-waste Food shopping and cooking
Like perfection, you can approach zero-waste Food usage but you can never really achieve the ultimate goal. But after all the commentary and conversation last year about the need to reduce Food waste, many folks have started to do their bit to make that goal a reality, and that’s a really good thing. Food waste remains a huge issue and, with more than half of the Food that’s grown and raised in North America going into the landfill at one point or another along the supply chain, we have to address this issue in earnest.
Bone Broths
Everywhere I looked researching this post, I encountered Bone Broths. Apparently, they’re the new ‘thing’ in Soups and even Beverages. They’re nothing more than the Stock from simmering your Beef Bones and Poultry carcasses, clarified like Consommé. Sounds to me like something you’d go to a restaurant for, as a special treat rather than an every-day menu item. Yes, Bone Broths are good for you and are often recommended for folks in convalescence. All that said, I think it’s a terrible waste not to stick your Turkey or Chicken carcasses in the Stock pot when you’ve got the Mat off them. You could have weeks worth of great Turkey Stock in your freezer virtually for free. Stack that up against paying up to $3 a Litre for boxed Stock in the store!
Fried Chicken, in all it’s forms
Fried Chicken shot to the top of the trend scoreboard last year when Popeye’s introduced its Chicken Sandwich. Nothing fancy; just Fried Chicken, Pickles and Mayo. But it was Popeye’s legendary Chicken, but people lined up around the block to try it. That led to other Takeout and Quick Serve Restos rushing to add Fried Chicken Sandwiches to their menus – if they didn’t already have one. Almost every week one Fast Food chain or another débuts a new take on the Fried Chicken Sandwich. That trend remains strong, and considering Fried Chicken remains the second-most-popular takeout food (after Pizza), I think this trend is a pretty sure thing.
Alcohol-free Booze
A friend mused, “Is Alcohol-free Booze really Booze at all?” I’ll leave that to the philosophers to answer. But whatever it is, it’s making a huge impact on the public’s drinking habits, and will likely remain solidly on trend through this year at least. Younger folks, especially, like to ‘drink’ and not get hammered, and others are becoming more wary of the virtual zero-tolerance policies of police departments across the land toward drinking and driving. In some places, you can be slapped with a suspension for having any measurable alcohol on your breath if stopped.
CBD-inflused products
For those who aren’t up to speed on this phenomenon, CBD is an extract of the Cannabis plant that doesn’t get you high, but does have other beneficial qualities. CBD is being hailed as a great treatment for anxiety and is being tested as a treatment for Epilepsy. It is said to provide pain relief and cure acne, and may even been helpful in treating Cancer. CBD Oil and products infused with it flooded onto the market last year, and the trend continues to grow.
And that’s the big picture…
There are lots of other breaking and possible Food trends we might see in 2020, but most of those, I fear, are doomed to be mere fads, as I said at the outset. And here at Maggie J.’s Fab Food Blog, we deal only in hard facts. Not to mention our sworn duty to identify the Food news stories that matter most to our faithful readers, and interpret new developments in ways that make sense to the average cook. That commitment is no mere trend, much less a fad, and I guarantee you it will continue strong through 2020!
~ Maggie J.