2008 Food Trends

2008 stands to be an exciting year for new food trends.  I believe that people are going to begin to appreciate that what they eat can be very much related to how healthy and well they feel.  In the past we were told what we were having to give up for the food to be considered healthy.  For example, what does a label with the words, “low fat”, mean to you?  Many view it as telling them eating fat is a no-no, that it’s bad for you.  Yet, not all fats are created equal.  The monounsaturated fat that you find in olive oil, for example, is a very healthy fat and good for you. 

The problem with foods that tout what they’re missing is it sets up a “deprivation mentality”.  Compare that to foods that tell you how good they are for you.  Food manufacturers are beginning to realize that we don’t want to sacrifice to be healthy.  So, in 2008 watch for more products that tell you why they are good for you.  Foods will be marketed in regards to their “functional” properties.  Take for example Activia Yogurt.  It states on the label that it “Helps naturally regulate your digestive system.”  Then there is Cheerios telling us we can lower our cholesterol by eating the cereal.

People are more apt to gravitate towards foods that have a positive implication for eating them rather than being told what they’ll be missing if they eat them.  Unfortunately, with that thinking, food manufacturers are probably going to add nutrients to foods just so they can tout them as beneficial for one reason or another.  Yet, if there is enough of an added ingredient to provide some decent level of beneficial results, especially with an ingredient that people often don’t get enough of, then maybe there is a place for those foods.  Take Total cereal, for example.  General Mills fortifies the cereal with a day’s allowance for many vitamins and minerals.  My suggestion to you is to be sure that the food being “enriched” is a healthy food to begin with.  Taking candy and adding vitamins to it is not the same as taking a high-fiber cereal, which starts out as a healthy option, and adding vitamins and minerals to be sure you’re getting your day’s allowance for these nutrients.

“Organic” and “locally grown” foods are going to occupy much more shelf-space than before.  As we become a more conscious nation of the effect we have on the world around us, we’ll appreciate that eating locally grown foods saves on gasoline to transport it, along with the emissions put out by transporting foods long distances.  We’ll become a society of “localvores.” “Organically grown” foods will become more attractive as fear grips our nation regarding the safety of the food we eat.  A couple of more mad-cow outbreaks or avian bird flu and people will only trust the food they grow themselves or locally grown where they may even know the growers.

I believe people are going to gravitate more to cooking their own meals so they know better what they’re eating.  With that thought in mind, we’ll probably see more foods cut up and ready for us to assemble.  We already have quite a plethora of cut up vegetables and fruits, along with cooked chicken  and meat strips.  The average person will no longer see him- or herself as a cook but an assembler.  No matter what you call yourself, cooking will save you money and make you feel more confidant in the foods you choose to eat.  Food manufacturers will help out by providing more ready-to-cook foods to make you feel you had a hand in the making of dinner.  It reminds me of the Betty Crocker story where the company decided that they’d put all the necessary ingredients in their cake mix, only requiring the cook to add water.  It wasn’t well received because women believed that it wasn’t “homemade” without their adding the eggs and oil.  So take heed, foods manufacturers, leave a little something for the cook to add so some pride can be taken with the cooking process.

I’m looking forward to people being more confident in their food choices.  With food manufacturers touting health benefits (in most cases, health benefits sanctioned by the FDA), consumers should move toward healthier foods naturally rather than viewed in terms of what they’re giving up.  Keep it local and you can feel you have more control over what you eat.

This entry was posted on January 21, 2008 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Foods and Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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