At the beginning of every year, we read the tea leaves to see what new food trends we'll be tasting in the coming months. This year, the tea itself is the trend. Tea leaves will be big in entrees, desserts and, of course, cocktails. Starbucks has opened its first tea shop. We won't be just drinking tea; Artisan distilling keeps on growing. This could be the year of gin, made with local botanicals as well as the traditional juniper berry. New — but still ancient — grains will join the now-common spelt and quinoa. Teff and freekeh may be as familiar to us by the end of next year. Nuts aren't new either, but a Harvard study shows that nut eaters live longer and lose weight. Tada: next year's favorite snack food. Another study finds we threw out 40 percent of our food last year. Now grocery auctions offer unsold food, and even the former president of Trader Joe's will open a market selling perfectly good food that's just past its sell-by date. Vegetarianism is no longer just for
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