Consumer awareness of ethical issues in food production has risen rapidly in recent years, whether that entails the human and environmental costs of ingredient sourcing in other parts of the world, or the environmental and social costs of foods sourced closer to home.
The trend toward sustainability has been exemplified by expanding availability of fair trade products, the continued rise of local sourcing, organic food and seasonal eating, and companies’ efforts to provide biodegradable or recyclable packaging.
According to The Food Channel: “America in particular is just now learning how to be sustainable, and Americans are holding themselves responsible. They aren’t doing this to create an illusion – there are a lot of ‘green echo’ people out there trying to make it look like they are green. In 2010 we’ll see people and companies becoming sustainable for authentic reasons; they are doing it to make a difference.”
The website released its top ten trends for 2010 in conjunction with CultureWaves and the International Food Futurists.
Among its other predictions, it suggested that consumers will take a ‘back to basics’ approach to cooking, shifting away from convenience foods to cooking from scratch; they will be more interested in individual portions; and experimentation, or willingness to try new things will increase.
Moving on from functional foods
Another of its major trend predictions was an increasing interest in foods with added health benefits. The Food Channel describes this as a progression from functional foods which, in turn, were a progression from fortified foods.
“We’ve become used to food with calcium added, or vitamins identified, but this year we’ll see a stronger statement – we will be defining ‘good for you’ as, ‘includes specific vitamins and nutrients,’” the site said.
Its full list of food predictions for 2010 is available here.