February 19th, 2021 Food and Culinary Trends of 2020-2021

 Good morning folks! As always I hope everyone is having a great day, and continuing to stay safe. 

I've stated before that I wanted this blog to center around food as well, so I cannot have at least a couple days devoted to food, discussion, and culture. That being said I wanted to address the crisis in the food industry which I'm sure is no secret has suffered during 2020 and will probably continue to suffer during part of 2021 unfortunately, COVID-19 had caused hard-hitting impacts financially to the food industry as well as small businesses.  I really want to keep this blog as positive and upbeat as I can but as someone who has worked and loves the food industry and the people, I wanted to voice my support to all the hard-working people that keep this country and world fed. 

I thought it would be interesting to discuss some of the new and upcoming food trends that happened in 2020 and will continue to happen in 2021. I also want to touch on some of the future of food, and some predictions in the food world. 

So I guess all you Kombucha junkies couldn't just have fermented carbonated juice thing, you had to add even more fermentation to it. Yes, folks, HARD Kombucha is a thing in 2020 and probably will remain in 2021. 

Chauractureie is making a comeback but with a makeover. It used to be said, that James Beard was the champion of Chauracturie and that seems like forever ago. It is so good that this is becoming a thing again. Don't go and ruin a good thing ( yes I'm talking to you Millenials) keep some of the tradition, it's not all about your Instagram. 

According to food and Wine, Interest in African American food is still increasing. Interest in African American food and cooking will probably tend to grow in interest over 2021 and beyond. 

Virtual cooking schools have become increasingly popular during 2020 and will probably remain so, during 2021 and beyond. 

Little tid-bid and notable mentions that I wanted to add :

Alcohol to-go had become a major addition to take-out, and improved restaurant takeaway services quite a bit during the pandemic. 

1% of the US population is farmers. This is a very concerning number. How are a very small population of farmers going to keep an ever-growing population fed, when there is already HUGE food insecurity in this country? If you have any insights or comments on this please let me know. Let's keep the conversation going on this, please. 

The last of the food trends that we will probably see is an increase in clean and organic foods as well as plant-based. Which is not surprising at all. 

Immune-boosting foods. 

Last words:

What I hope happens and will continue to happen in 2021 and beyond: I hope people will continue cooking with real ingredients. I want people to know their meat, I want people to learn to love real food again. I would love to see A LOT less boxed and frozen food used. Remember one learns by doing. So go and do. Learn from you butchers, your marketers. Get your hands in that dough. Rub some butter on a chicken. Let's start COOKING again. non of this boxed crap. I thought we moved past this.