Food for 2020

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Food is a very essential part of our life. It’s an important part of our cultural identity, and plays an important role in the economy. We are all aware that the food we eat is a very important factor influencing our health and our personal well-being, but what we know as well, and we neglected very often, is the sustainable factor of the food we eat. More often nowadays we think about hybrid cars, using more public transport, using reusable coffee cups and water bottles, save energy wherever possible and we are champions in separating our garbage.

But why do we still produce so much garbage and what can we do to reduce this?

The foods we produce and consume have a significant impact on our environment with high greenhouse gas emissions, the depletion of our soil, the use of water resources, general pollution, the impact of chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides and finally not to forget all the plastics used for packaging.

This is why our general food trends are finally changing towards long-term sustainability, for production and consumption of all our foods. I would like to present you some impactful trends for 2020 that are going exactly this direction .

Snackification, urban food, glocal food and plant based food will be the food trends that will develop and increase even more in the new decade to create a more healthy and sustainable food-lifestyle for a better Planet.

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Snackification

Snacks had over the last 20-30 years the image of small and fast, greasy and/or sweet treats we normally eat in between our main meals. In the new decade these snacks will turn into flexible healthy mini meals, to support and thrive our body in an accelerating mobile world where time is crucial but not depending anymore on structural habits. Feeding the body is just as essential and important as our daily work, family life, studying, school, hobbies and free time experiences

Tapas, mezze, bowl foods, healthy sandwiches, salad bowls, plant based burgers and fast increasing plant protein foods (not only for vegans) and many more. All these modern and trendy snacks deliver us our daily requirement and intake of healthy foods and with sustainable production methods, regionality and reusable packaging they have an increasing positive impact on our environment too.

Urban food

Urban food originates from food systems that want to create awareness to changing from traditional farming to alternative circular ecosystems with a decreased environmental impact. Using less water and less soil which generate less greenhouse gas emissions and situated in an urban environment, hydroponic agriculture is set up for success. Next to many salads, vegetables and herbs also many fish species can be grown sustainably with hydroponic growing systems, and the nutricial value of these products are much higher then in regular agricultural methods. With rapidly increasing hydroponic producers the impact and positive effect on our environment will grow equally fast.and the much shorter transportation from farm to table is another positive part of this increase.

Glocal food

Glocal foods are foods that were once grown with distinctive breeding, heritage, and from a natural environment in which products are produced, including soil, topography, and climate from distinctive places around the globe, but are now grown in many localities with different kinds of local soil, climate, and heritage. So a unique combination of once-separated global and local foods turning into glocal

Many people believe that today’s mixing of population groups in many countries around the world makes a long-distance food system inevitable. It’s commonly estimated that an average food item travels hundreds of kilometers from farm-to-fork. That number can't come down without suppressing access to multicultural foods that are only available through imports from far away. With some help from season extension techniques and indoor agriculture, many nutritious comfort foods from around the world can be part of every region’s rounded, local, sustainable, diverse, and flavorful diet, and with the diverse growth of a multi cultural population all over the world, and our massively increased interest in multi cultural foods over the last 1-2 decades, al these real authentic produces and tastes can now be made available al around the glob,.and will be an increasing trend for the next decade.

Plant based food

a style of cooking and eating that emphasises and celebrates, but is not limited to, plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables; whole grains, beans, legumes, pulses, soy foods, nuts and seeds, plant oils; and herbs and spices.

With this style of cooking the goal is to reduce animal and fish based proteins in our dishes and replace them with more plant based proteins, without completely eliminating them. With placing plant proteins, vegetables, pulses and so on in the centre of our diets and with the reduction of meat and fish proteins we improve our environmental footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water usage. With delivering these different kind of dishes with loads of taste and flavor, they will be favorised as much and probably even more then all kind of convenience foods full of MSG's. this way we can eat much healthier and at the same time make our world a better place in a tasty way.

So al together 2020 will have another increasing development of

multi cultural / slow / glocal / plant-focused / urban / street food, or in other words

Accessible traditional foods, cooked in a product gentle way, with an international and fusionend background, with a decreasing amount of animal proteins, sustainably grown and presented in small easy to eat and where possible "on the go" portions.

thats the future food for the 2020's