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Many smart people enjoy pointing out the obvious, that nothing magically changes at midnight on Dec. 31, except for the fact that we make a small tweak to one of the most important numbers we use to keep track of time.

Sure, theyre right, but no matter how illusory and arbitrary it is, theres still something appealing about saying goodbye to a year that started out with an attempted coup and closed off with Omicron. New Years rituals give us an excuse to look ahead and imagine a better future, one filled with all sorts of great new food, drink and nutrition trends, as predicted by the experts.

ANCESTRAL EATS

According to Pinterest Predicts, an annual report released by the social media platform that uses search trends to divine the next big thing, many of its users are trying to learn more about the authentic and traditional food their grandparents ate. The terms ancestral diet or ancestral eating is hard to pin down, since people use either term to describe everything from the decolonization of food to paleo diets but its interesting to note that food journalist Michael Pollan was an advocate for avoiding anything your great-great-great grandmother wouldnt recognize as food, as far back as 15 years ago.

Whatever it means, if it leads more people to eat more whole foods, especially fruits and veggies, wed all be better off, so heres hoping thats the way it plays out.

POTATO MILK

Were pretty sure potato milk hasnt launched in Canada yet, but its extremely likely to be here soon, given its extraordinary popularity everywhere its become available. Developed at Lund University in Sweden, its being touted as the most sustainable plant milk, since milking potatoes is twice as efficient as oat milk one of the more environmentally friendly alt-milks. Plus, potato allergies are exceedingly rare. Still wondering when pasta water is going to get its turn, though.

LESS MEAT, LESS HEAT

Although some of what drives demand for alt-milk is lactose-intolerance and/or animal rights, the success of plant milks has also been buoyed by an increasing number of people who are getting serious about sustainable food. Given the urgency of the problem, we expect to see a lot more climatarians in 2022, as more people adopt diets explicitly aimed at fighting climate change.

Although some climatarians still consume ethically-sourced and sustainable meat, they tend to be plant-centric and extremely committed to zero-waste eating, since wasted food in landfills produces methane. Hard not to root for the climatarian movement, right?

FIBRE POP

The Whole Foods trend panel has tapped prebiotic sodas as the next big wellness water, which makes perfect sense, since theres been a gradual shift away from probiotic supplements (which may not be great at getting good bacteria to stay in our systems) and towards prebiotics, which are thought to help the bugs actually colonize our intestines. So, what exactly are prebiotics? Nondigestible fibre, which can easily be added to drinks. Case in point, Crazy Ds Sparkling Prebiotic Beverages, which is Canadas first fizzy prebiotic and contains eight grams of fibre from sources like chicory root. It comes in three flavours, Cherry Cola, Ginga Kick and Twisted Citrus, all of which are tasty, refreshingly dry and contain no added sugar.

SOBER-CURIOUS

Speaking of more healthful drinking, the non-alcoholic spirits, beer and wine categories are still blowing up, to the point that there is now a Canadian business, Sansorium, exclusively devoted to non-alcoholic products. This year, we can expect to see established brands, such as Nova Scotias Benjamin Bridge and Bottega SPA (Italian Prosecco) release non-alcoholic versions of their products. One hotly-anticipated release is Tanquerays 0.0 per cent which (supply chain willing) should be available in Canada soon, so that everyone can be like Lady Gagas character in House of Gucci and drink Tanqueray Martinis with no fear of a hangover.

TEA PARTY

Pinterest users are, apparently, also keenly interested in reviving the afternoon tea ritual, although, since the searches are for drinking tea pose and tea party aesthetic, its likely that the tea, biscuits and finger sandwiches are less important than the accessories. When the restaurants and bars closed last year, food Instagrammers started investing in fancy napkins and dinnerware, so they could stage their own food porn scenes. This trend is likely an extension of that and people are just tweaking to the fact that High Tea can be a pretty ornate food ritual.

FOOD FOR FIDO

Given that the pet food industry is already one of the fastest growing and most lucrative industries in existence, its hard to believe that gourmet pet food is about to get bigger, but thats the prediction. Once you think about all those pandemic puppies (and kittens), though, its nearly inevitable that pet nutrition will become an even hotter topic than it is. Whether its custom-made fresh dog food or artisanal wild-caught cuts in gravy, Fido and Felix both can expect to see new diet regimens. After all, pets are the new children.

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The lowdown on potato milk, fibre pop and other health food trends for 2022 - Toronto Star