I admit to you that I am not generally a good prognosticator. If I were, my stock picks would have made me enough to retire.
But I think I know enough about food to look into my crystal ball for the year ahead to see what we may be cooking and how we’ll be cooking it. These predictions are based on trends I’ve observed over the past year and the direction I see many of my colleagues and friends going in their restaurants, catering businesses and personal chef endeavors.
There is no doubt that the number one trend right now is a variation of the cocooning effect the recession has had on so many of us. More people are cooking at home. That’s good for me, in a way, because one of the purposes of my television program is to show people how to create restaurant style food in their home kitchens.
Right up there with this trend to cook more at home is to find and use more local or locally sourced ingredients. So many chefs have now established ties with farmers and ranchers, some making exclusive deals, to bring freshly grown produce and locally raised livestock for meat and poultry. That’s a good thing – a very good thing.
The continued expansion of Internet connections, especially social networking facilities like Facebook and Twitter, has connected foodies around the world. I’ve made some valuable and helpful connections with chefs in Europe and Asia, as well as in other cities in the U.S. through these sites.
An offshoot of this is the emergence of chef collectives on the Internet that offer advice and counsel to home cooks. I am involved in one such organization, called ChefsLine.com. Our collective of 25 chefs with varying specialties, take turns fielding telephone and on-line chats and questions and we’ve even done some live cook-alongs through the miracle of Skype – a free (for now, anyway) video communication tool.
I should also mention that in a world where climate change is the focus of so many, eco-consciousness in the kitchen will play a significant role in the year ahead. We’re looking more intensely at packaging, fuel usage, waste disposal and other related activities to reduce or minimize the carbon footprints all of us leave.
While chefs are sourcing locally, those of who eat are doing the same thing. There’s even an invented word for this: locavore. It applies to staying local when choosing a restaurant, but it also applies to you if you’re growing your own herbs and vegetables, saving time, money and fuel on trips to the grocery.
The food world is still addressing the issue of obesity in America. Some restaurants have altered their menus, offering low-calorie and low-fat offerings. But some are also printing the calorie count and sometimes, that’s just a bit too much information for me. I count myself among those who need to lose – ahem – many pounds, but when I go out to eat, I want what I want. And one of the things I don’t want when I read a menu or have my order taken is a lecture or a guilt trip.
The role of science in the food world has gained more attention from nutritionists, bio-activists, and others with the creation of what’s euphemistically called “FrankenFood,” bioengineered alterations to plant DNA, genetic alterations to cattle and sheep. For someone who has an opinion on many things, I have no opinion on this yet. I don’t know enough about it, but I want to learn more. It could be good. It could be bad. I’ll let you know.
Despite all the advances in science and technology, we’re still as insecure about our food supply as we are about air travel. In 2009 we had food poisonings, deaths, recalls and other calamities because of failures at the FDA, at the farm, and well into the supply chain. I’d rather not see any more stories on the news about grocery chains dumping tens of thousands of pounds of food because of contamination issues.
And that brings me to my last point, a recurring one in my column, and that is food philanthropy. In this land of plenty, we still have people who are starving. The recession pushed more people, many of whom formerly contributed money and goods, finding themselves in line for a bag of groceries to help feed their families. There has always been the issue of world hunger. But it’s also in our own backyards.
So as you watch my predictions over the next year, please contribute to your local food bank because it’s more important to conquer hunger than to worry about any of the other trends I’ve predicted. Also, you can sign up to receive my weekly video recipe by sending an e-mail to chefjim at kitchenguy dot biz. Or follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/chefman714.
Here’s wishing you a sweet, healthy, happy and prosperous new year.