Retailer’s annual forecast of “up-and-coming flavors, products, and culinary influences” singles out Fair Food tomatoes and strawberries as perfect way to “Try the Trend” of consumers’ growing demand for transparency in 2018…

Every year about this time, Whole Foods releases its predictions of the “Top Food Trends” for the coming year.  It is the retailer’s most anticipated annual press release and is picked up widely in national media, with outlets from Time Magazine to USA Today running stories highlighting Whole Foods’ picks for what figure to be the hottest trends in the food market in the year ahead.  

This year, Whole Foods is predicting a surge in consumer interest in the story behind the food we eat, a trend Whole Foods is calling “Transparency 2.0”.  Here’s an excerpt from the retailer’s “Top Food Trends for 2018” release:

5. Transparency 2.0

More is more when it comes to product labeling. Consumers want to know the real story behind their food, and how that item made its way from the source to the store. GMO transparency is top-of-mind, but shoppers seek out other details, too, such as Fair Trade certification, responsible production and animal welfare standards… (read more)

With each new trend, Whole Foods provides recommendations for how to “Try the Trend,” i.e., a product or products that best exemplify the hot new food wave.  And what did Whole Foods choose to best convey the trend of Transparency when it comes to fair labor standards?  Fair Food produce, of course:

Try the Trend: Pole & Line canned albacore tuna traceable to the exact captain and vessel that caught the fish; calorie information on dishes from Whole Foods Market food bars and venues; 5-Step^® Animal Welfare Rated fresh meat and poultry; Perky Jerky Animal Welfare Rated beef jerky; sustainability certification or ratings on every type of wild-caught seafood in Whole Foods Market’s seafood department; Non-GMO Project Verified products; Fair Food certified tomatoes and strawberries.

And as if on cue, just this past weekend longtime CIW ally Bradley Myles of Polaris, a leader in the movement to end human trafficking, sent us a photo of Fair Food Program tomatoes from a Whole Foods store in the DC area, adding that his daughter particularly loves the FFP grape tomatoes:

So get out there and buy your Fair Food tomatoes today, ahead of the curve… because if Whole Foods is right — and they’ve got a pretty good track record of predicting the trends over the years — they’ll be flying off the shelves in 2018!

And check back soon for reports from the front lines of the Campaign for Fair Food, as the streets were alive up and down the East Coast these past few days, with Fair Food protests in Miami and Washington DC, and the “Harvest without Violence” mobile exhibit making the rounds in New York City.