Meg is an Endeavour-qualified nutritionist, an experienced recipe developer and graphic designer. For the past seven years, she’s been working professionally in the food space, predominantly on health and wellness projects. Right now, she’s juggling several projects, including the next CSIRO cookbook.

“Given the nature of my work, I’m always watching trends and developing projects that respond to what I’m seeing. It’s amazing to see how this area is evolving, and hopefully, these food trends will stick,” Meg said. “The pandemic may have reduced our ability to eat out with friends and family, but we’re still finding ways to connect over food.”

1. Opting for healthy

“People are more aware of their health, and there’s a growing interest in what they can do to improve their health and immunity, beginning with the food they eat,” Meg said. “For nutritionists, this is good news because our knowledge and experience are more in demand than ever.”

2. Keeping it simple

“We had already seen a shift towards simpler meals with a focus on a few quality ingredients, but COVID-19 accelerated this trend. Taste and nutritional value are more important than a fancy cooking technique,” Meg said. “We’re even seeing this trend in restaurants.”

3. Home-cooking from scratch

“Even where restrictions have been eased, people are still not going out like before. Stuck at home, they’re honing their cooking skills and learning how to make things from scratch,” Meg said. “Just look at the rise in baking and bread-making during COVID-19! As well as providing nourishment, home-cooking is something useful and tangible that we can create during so much uncertainty.”

4. Using what’s available

“It’s not just toilet paper that’s hard to find! People have got creative about substituting ingredients that they can’t find or growing their own herbs or vegetables,” Meg said. “And some people are discovering frozen products they didn’t know existed.”

5. Shopping local

“Confined to our neighbourhoods because of the pandemic, we’ve got little choice but to shop locally. We've realised the importance of supporting our local grocers and growers as it's the most reliable way to access food,” Meg said. “People are paying closer attention to where food products come from, what’s shipped from overseas and they’re choosing to buy local.”