Five Global Food Trends to Watch in 2017

From sugar to genetically-modified food labeling, the next year may be a pivotal one for the future of food. Here's a look at five food trends around the world that will be important in 2017. 

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Flickr/Rex Pe

Is the Indian Jackfruit the Next Big Meat Substitute?  

African Pot restaurant, located in Guangzou, is one of the only restaurants to serve African food in China

How Food is Helping the Chinese to See Immigrants as More than "Foreign"  

For years, jackfruit - which is native to India and part of the Moracaea family that includes breadfruit, figs, and
mulberries -has been popular with vegans, who use the
unripe fruit in dishes like tacos and curries. 

Could this unusual fruit - which has a meaty texture, can grow to 100 lbs., and tastes like Juicy fruit gum when ripe - be the next big food trend in the West?

The city of Guangzhou is China's largest trading center, and is home to thousands of African and Middle Eastern immigrants. What many of these immigrants miss is the foods of their home countries - which have been hard to find in China. So a few new restaurants now specialize in African and Middle Eastern foods.

​The surprise bonus is that native Chinese are also flocking to these restaurants, and learning more about the cultures of visitors and immigrants through these foods. 

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Rosemary and Time: Does This Italian Hamlet Have a Recipe for Long Life?​ 

Flickr/Antonio Trogu

In and around Acciaroli, Italy, a particularly pungent variety of locally grown rosemary — said to smell 10 times as strong as the norm — is a daily part of the diet.

What's notable in Acciaroli is that many people here live well past 90, and enjoy superb health: no cataracts, few bone fractures, excellent heart health, and a low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Not to mention strong sex drives into their 90s.

Is this Italian rosemary - along with other diet and environmental factors - holding the key to longevity and good health? A recent study suggests that there may be a link - 

"Have we discovered the Fountain of Youth? No - but we’re asking the right questions. The potential is there to live longer than 110, if we do it right.”
--Dr. Alan S. Maisel, cardiologist, professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and researcher of study on nonagenarians and centenarians living in Acciaroli, Italy. 

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Flickr/Cicindelli

Pineapples May Play a Key Role in Global Superbug Battle 

As people use antibiotics more widely and carelessly, bacteria are becoming more resistant. Eventually, bacteria "superbugs" - which can resist multiple types of drugs - will make antibiotics obsolete.

​Researchers have found that certain enzymes in pineapples 
make it difficult for bacteria to attach to cells in the gut, and thus stops bacteria from becoming resistant. Here's how it could work.

Flickr/Cyril Doussin

French Parents Know How to Teach Their Kids To Love Food Without Overeating

In France, pleasure, or “plaisir,” is not a dirty word. It’s not considered hedonistic to pursue pleasure.

​According to the French, pleasure serves as a compass guiding people in their actions. And parents begin teaching their children from very early childhood in a process called the education of taste, or “l’éducation du gout.”

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