Healthy Food Trends for 2016

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Just like clothes, shoes and cars, food also has evolving trends. Think back to first hearing about kale, or acai … or the word locavore! Here at Lakewinds, we looked at what the experts are talking about for healthy food trends in 2016. Here are a few of our favorites.

Good for the Body, Good for the Planet: The United Nations has declared 2016 the International Year of the Pulse. No, they aren’t referring to your heartbeat – they’re referring to legumes such as dried beans, lentils and peas. Packed with protein, pulses are good for your health. But the good news doesn’t end there. Legumes are important for farmers too! Many farmers use edible beans in their crop rotation to reduce weed and insect pressure, add nitrogen to the soil and harvest a marketable crop. The next time you make a bean dip or a hearty bean soup, you can relish your meal knowing that it’s building both your health and that of our planet!

Less is More: It’s always a good idea to read labels, and if you do it regularly you know what a relief it is to find a quality product made from just a few ingredients with names you can pronounce. You’re not alone in wanting fewer ingredients and more transparency. Companies everywhere are and will be touting their short and easier-to-read ingredient lists. Less label reading and more good food eating!

Super Food to look for: MACA ROOT

Maca, a member of the radish family, has a mild taste and subtle earthy flavor. It’s rich in vitamins B, C and E and provides calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and amino acids. It’s most commonly found in powder form, which makes it easy to add to a variety of foods, from baked goods to soups. Here are some maca products you can find at Lakewinds:

  • Righteously Raw Chocolates Maca Superfood Bar
  • Vega Organic Maca Chocolate Dietary Supplement
  • Herb Pharm Maca capsules (in Wellness)
  • Herb Pharm Maca extract
  • Oregon’s Wild Harvest organic maca root herbal supplement

Waste Not: There are pretty astonishing stats about the tons of food wasted every year. Food waste is one of the biggest contributors to landfills and methane release. Fear not! Exciting things are happening to combat waste.

You may remember seeing Oddball Organics’ “ugly potatoes” in Lakewinds stores last fall – we were ahead of this trend, offering organic potatoes with odd shapes or minor skin blemishes at a good price. Dan Barber, a well-known chef and author of the bestselling book, The Third Plate, created a pop-up restaurant in New York for month called WastED and served dishes made from overlooked food like kale ribs and pasta trimmings. One grocery chain in France changed shoppers’ demand for perfect, unblemished food with clever posters, easy recipes and reduced prices.

Buying “ugly food” doesn’t mean that it’s spoiled or past expiration. It can mean buying a carrot that has “two legs” or an orange that has some brown on it (which, by the way, means it’s really juicy). There are a number of organizations, including Lakewinds, working to reduce food waste. We also donate about 60,000 pounds of food and other products to our community food shelf partners each year.

Plus, don’t forget to eat those leftovers – it’s good for the planet!

We would love to hear from you about what you want to eat this year. After all, it’s your demand for good, healthy food that drives trends. What trends are YOU going to set in 2016?