TOU 1040

TREND

Isherwood

DESCRIPTION

Food & Beverage Trends

Name: ___________________

TOU 1040

Isherwood

Part 1: Watch the video and fill in the chart below.

Part 2: Perform a Close Reading on the non-fiction article below.

The 4 Steps of Close Reading

1) Read the title & make a prediction.
2) Read the whole text & . . .
-Annotate (makes notes) of connections (text-to self, textto-text, text-to-world), questions, opinions, & predictions
-Underline key terms
-Circle words & sections you do not understand
3) Risee-read your annotations.
-Have your opinions changed
-Can you answer your own questions?
If so, write it down!
4) Go back to the circled words & sections. Take steps
to gain understanding
-Discuss with classmates/teacher
-Use your phone! Write down the definitions on your article.

PumpkinistheNewBacon
Tastetheubiquity!
By Felix Salmon
Published Oct 14, 2012

TOU 1040

Isherwood

We carve them at Halloween, and well

bake them into the obligatory
Thanksgiving pie, but pumpkins have
never been very popular as an ingredient
until now. Suddenly, pumpkin is
everywhere: in high-end cocktails and
mass-market bagels; in Pumpkin Custard
n Gingersnaps ($2.99 at Cracker Barrel,
for a limited time only), and, of course, in
the pioneering Starbucks Pumpkin Spice
Latte (about $4 for a small cup, assuming
your local branch hasnt sold out). According to a seven-page PowerPoint from the
MenuTrends database of the firm Datassential, This year is on track to be one of the most
active years for seasonal pumpkin menuing and could top the 2011 record, when more than
60 pumpkin-related dishes appeared on the menus of Americas top 250 chain restaurants.
(Datassential really gets into this stuff, further reporting, among other things, that in
appetizers, pumpkin is more likely to be roasted than toasted or pured.) Zero in on beverage
menus, and the increase is even more striking: Pumpkin drink offerings have increased 400
percent during the past five years.
The weird thing about pumpkins rise to baconlike ubiquity is that pumpkin, on its own, is
not a very appetizing food at all. A dense and stringy fruit, it needs the accompaniment of a
lot of sugar and spices before it becomes particularly palatable. As a marketing tool,
however, pumpkin is perfectly pitched for todays eaters. The fact that it needs that extra
flavoring? Thats a bonus, not a bug, as far as the restaurant business is concerned. A
pumpkin dish, in the era of the locavore, has connotations of virtuewhen you think of
pumpkin, you think of something farm-grown and wholesome. That helps make it a
permissible indulgence, even when what youre eating is mainly just sugar and spice. Never
mind the recipe realitiessavor those associations!

TOU 1040

Isherwood

The semiotic power of pumpkins is so great, in fact, that pumpkin dishes dont even need any
actual pumpkin in them in order to cash in on the warming, autumnal vibe. Specials
masquerading as seasonal and fresh from the patch turn out to be a variation on the old trick
of manufactured scarcity, the most famous food-world example of which is the legendary
McDonalds McRib. The secret of Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, for instance, is that its
just a latte spruced up with pumpkin-flavored syrupconnoisseurs cite cinnamon, nutmeg,
clove. Dunkin Donuts takes the feint further, dropping the spice from the name, though
thats mostly what youre tasting. But no matter: If a restaurant served actual pumpkin pure,
the taste and texture might shatter customers illusions. Pumpkin, on the other hand, is
delicious.
Part 3: Choose one of the Food & Beverage trends we have learned about (or
check with Miss Isherwood if you have another idea) and create an informative
poster about the trend.

PROFILING A FOOD & BEVERAGE TREND

You may make a poster digitally, or using paper. You make work with up to two
other people on this project.
Please include the following on your poster.
CONTENT:
-Name of the trend
-When it became popular
-Why it is popular
-The positives of the trend
-The negatives of the trend
-How the Food & Beverage industry is selling products related to the trend
-Your opinion on the trend
IMAGES
-Image of the trend
-At least one graph or chart showing how the trend has grown