Food news antipasto

We will start the new year by looking back at 2024 with Food and Wine’s report on its top food stories of 2024. I had forgotten about a couple of these, such as the foray into surge pricing by some restaurant chains and California becoming the first state to ban sell-by dates. Others stuck in my mind including the many food recalls and the lead in cinnamon issue.

From looking back to looking forward, here is one more article on projected food trends for 2025. This one comes from Katie Workman of the Associated Press, and has a US slant although it does look at global trends. She sees more Asian flavors and restaurants, functional foods, spicy flavors, crunchy textures, seaweed and sea moss, and sustainability as things to look for in 2025, plus a few more. As Katie notes, before trends took off at the speed of light via TikTok, making predictions “used to be a simpler task!”

Fruits and vegetables are essential components of a healthy diet, but not all of them are created equal in terms of nutrition. Over at Good Food (AU), a dietitian ranks what she sees as the 10 healthiest vegetables of all time. I was happy to see one of my favorites make the list (carrots), although a couple of them were ones I don’t eat very often, like beets and watercress. In a similar vein, another dietician weighs in with her choices for the top 11 superfoods. Other than leafy green vegetables, there is really no overlap between the two lists, with the latter favoring salmon, nuts and seeds, legumes, avocados, and tofu among other items.

Meghan Markle has a new Netflix series titled With Love, Meghan that debuts on January 15. Eater’s Amy McCarthy saw the trailer for the show and says that she is already bored with it. The footage shows Meghan hanging out with other celebrities as she arranges flowers and harvests produce. McCarthy wonders if Markle has anything special to offer because the preview didn’t seem to offer any unusual perspectives or unique takes, saying “What could she possibly teach us that Martha Stewart or Ina Garten haven’t already?” David Ellis of The Standard has a snarkier take on the upcoming program, saying it is the “Live, Laugh, Love of TV shows.”