As the 2010s slip further into our collective memories, it got me thinking about foods trends that swept America during an even earlier time—the 2000s. The decade began with the dot-com bubble burst and ended with the Internet as an increasingly ubiquitous presence in our lives. The world was supposed to devolve into madness when electronics couldn’t switch into the new millennium! Along the way there was 9/11, entry into overseas conflicts, and a global financial crisis. Heavy stuff, to say the least.
And yet, life still needed to be lived. People still needed to eat. Because many of websites we still use today were established in the 2000s, there is a lot of original online source material still accessible from that era. This is just a taste of some of the trends that became part of popular eating culture.
Living amid another period of uncertainty, I think we can learn a lot from the 2000s. What struck me was the common thread of enjoying life’s little joys. In the 2000s, Americans seemed looking for comfort in a time when continued prosperity didn’t seem guaranteed. As indulgent and frivolous as any of these trends may seem, they’re pretty financially affordable and widely accessible. They don’t have a sense of exclusivity or aspiring upward mobility. Instead, they’re more about being a slightly better version of yourself.
“Locavore”
Do you eagerly await the opening of your neighborhood farmers market? Do you dig farm-to-table dining? Gravitate toward local tap rooms and vineyards? You may be a locavore at heart. The term was coined in San Francisco in 2005 by women challenging local residents to eat only food grown or harvested within 100 miles of the Bay Area. It became so popular that it was named Oxford American Dictionary’s 2007 word of the year. Over the next several years the number of farmers markets in the United States exploded, growing more than 75 percent from 2008 to 2014, according to the USDA. The 2000s helped kick off the notion that enjoying local foods can benefit the body, the soul, and the community.
Fast-Casual Dining
In the 2000s there was a rise in demand for dining establishments with healthy, fast options at a low price. Enter fast-casual restaurants, offering the convenience of fast food with a greater sense of sophistication. Plus generally more customization in their menus. Perhaps this was somewhat related to the locavore concept of being more mindful of your food. Combine that with an economic crunch that left consumers feeling budget conscious, and you had a market primed for Chipotle and Panera.
Cupcakes Everywhere
The year: 2000. The wildly popular show Sex and the City features two of its main characters, Carrie and Miranda, enjoying cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery in downtown Manhattan. Over the next decade, cupcakes exploded in popularity, with countless chains opening across the country. Cupcakes are a little luxury that come perfectly sized for one. They are a delight for the eyes and deliver a bite of sweetness for a couple of dollars. The cupcake craze may have faded since its heyday, but they remain one of my favorite desserts to bake and to share with friends.
Atkins Diet
Before Keto became the influencer buzzword of the moment, the low-carb Atkins Diet promised you could eat all red meat and dairy all the time. Well, it didn’t really, but that’s what many of its proponents in the 2000s would have had you believe. In part, it reflected a rejection of high-carb, high-sugar, low-fat diets that dominated the period before it. Both Atkins and Keto can reportedly help with short-term weight loss. But like any change in diet, the issue comes in finding a plan that will be sustainable for your life in the long term.
Bacon, Bacon, Bacon
This is where the Atkins people and the cupcake people could see eye to eye (as long as they weren’t vegetarian). Bacon wasn’t just a breakfast side anymore, it was baked into cakes, flavored for lip balm, and put on clothing. Bacon duct tape, anyone? They called it “Bacon mania.” There’s no denying that bacon and its cousin pork belly have lots of staying power. They are likely to be on a menu near you for the foreseeable future.