Viral Food Trends

I first started thinking about how viral food trends impact our food systems recently whilst listening to a podcast about food waste. Our food systems prioritise profit over sustainable practice. In the UK alone, approximately 9.5 tonnes of food waste is generated every single year, this is from every stage from farming/manufacturing to packaged foods and leftovers.

Of course there will always be trends, like in any industry.

What is the difference between a food trend and a viral food trend?

Food trends are created based on real customers wants, needs and desires. They grow organically and they take time to grow momentum.

Viral food trends prioritise aesthetics and profit over ethics and sustainability and don’t offer transparent information about sourcing and impact. They are often created for novelty and grow momentum quickly but don't last long.

As a baker myself, I believe the greatest joy comes from creating new recipes and taking inspiration from other industry professionals(with credit given).

In my opinion, viral food trends foster a copycat culture, often with very little credit given to the original creator.

Viral food trends drive up the prices of ingredients, which impact small businesses who simply do not have the same buying power as big businesses and manufacturers. This has a knock on effect and reduces access to consumers, reinforcing food elitism.

Viral food trends can also encourage and incentivise unsustainable farming practices. Monocropping is an industrial agriculture method, which is popular due to its efficiency in planting and harvesting.

Monocropping has many downsides, including: depletion in soil health and biodiversity, reliance on chemical fertilisers and pesticides and increased chance of disease and pests. 

Sudden increase in demand for ingredients can put pressure on supply chains, leading to underpaid or unpaid labour and unsafe working conditions, especially in developing countries. 

Short term increase in demand can make it hard to plan and a sudden drop in demand can increase the likelihood of food waste at all levels. 

As an industry professional I believe I have a responsibility to not contribute to food waste, to provide safe and good quality food to consumers and to educate consumers as much as possible.

Unfortunately, our world is not ideal, and our food systems have significant issues. Consumers often receive more blame than they deserve, as marketing and advertising heavily influence us all. In many cases, more food is produced than consumed.

None of us are perfect but if you can take one action today, avoid following the crowd and resist buying into that viral food trend(food producers and consumers).

Words to live by: "Everything in moderation."

Thank you for reading,

Charlotte