According to Forbes, compound butters (like these at Nick & Toni’s) will move front and center in 2017. • Photo by Doug Young
From restaurant trends to recycling to food science here are the 7 things you need to know in food this week
The New York Post on the flourishing foodie scene in Queens:
“As Queens becomes the new place for hipsters priced out of Brooklyn, its foodie scene continues to flourish.
Queens Crossing in Flushing — a mixed-use development from F&T Group, with retail, office, community, entertainment and dining space — is launching three new food concepts in its trendy food hall. Curry Bo and Young Street Poke Co. are due from restaurateur and designer Natalie Graham and Chef Takanori Akiyama — both of the Lower East Side’s SakaMai.”
The New York Daily News on bills that would protect fast food workers:
” Retail and fast food workers would be spared from last-minute changes to their schedules under new legislation being introduced in the City Council on Tuesday. One bill would ban retail stores with five or more employees from canceling a worker’s shift within 72 hours, or requiring them to come in to work with less than 72 hours’ notice.”
The Washington Post on why Democrats should listen to rural America:
“To make his case, [Secretary of Agriculture] Vilsack focuses on his home state of Iowa, which is 95 percent white and shows in microcosm many of the problems that plague Democrats in rural America. When Vilsack won his long-shot race for governor in 1998, it was the first time Iowa had elected a Democrat to the office in 32 years.”
WNYC explores how mayors are going to lead the fight to protect the environment:
“But while prime ministers and ambassadors at the U.N. consider the international impacts of climate change, across town, a group of mayors is attempting to refocus the issue on the immediate, already present consequences impacting individuals in their communities.”
Pew Research Center on how Americans differ widely on food science issues:
“There has been a pronounced shift in Americans’ eating habits over the past 20 years with far-reaching implications for how food is created, prepared and consumed. Moreover, the way Americans eat has become a source of potential social, economic and political friction as people follow personal preferences reflecting their beliefs about how foods connect with their health and ailments, according to a new survey by Pew Research Center.”
The Times reports on Germany being the world leader in recycling:
“According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germans happily sort 65 percent of their waste into an array of color-coded bins to be collected for reuse or incineration. South Koreans come in second, recycling 59 percent of their refuse. The United States recycles 35 percent; that’s only slightly above the average for the developed countries that belong to the organization, but it is miles ahead of Turkey, where 99 percent of all trash ends up in a landfill.”
Forbes picks its top 10 food and restaurant trends of 2016:
“Some of the trends on past lists remain popular: all-day breakfast, poke, fried chicken, avocado toast, lobster rolls, truffles, kale, Brussels sprouts, bitters, copper mug cocktails, customizable fast food, upscale vegan cooking and restaurants filtering and bottling water on site.”
