Lindsay O’Donnell works in marketing for Whole Foods and writes a vegan food blog. She grew up in Vancouver and lives there now. “Everyone’s a total health nut. It’s really multicultural. There’s a lot of Asian fusion everywhere and seafood and poutine and things like that. Vancouver is definitely like a yoga hippie city.” Instead of showing off their Chanel or Nike labels, O’Donnell said people brand themselves with coconut water, a yoga mat, and knowledge of the latest food cleanse.

While Korean tacos are all the rage, the wildly popular Austin food truck has moved onto something even better – fries, on steroids. The Tex-Mex Korean fusion dish became so popular, it instantly put Chi’Lantro on the competitive food truck map, right up against other mega mobile eateries across the U.S. Now running five trucks in Austin and Houston, owner Jae Kim may come off as some kind of French Fries master.

In more recent times, however, chocolate buyers have been inundated with new terms and compound words printed on the labels of this much sought-after sweet.   Artisan, single origin, blend, percentage, fair trade, are a few relatively new designations given to chocolate bars found everywhere from supermarket chains to small gourmet shops.  One of the newest of these nomenclatures is bean-to-bar.

Foods that were certain to phase out (drinkable yogurt, anyone?), held on and became the norm. Other foods, like the personalized chicken pot pie, created to comfort a mourning nation after the tragedy of September 11, 2001, had unexpected sales up and then back down. But even the most picky eater wouldn’t be surprised if food trends like the cronut-- a cross between a croissant and a doughnut--stuck it out for the long haul. 

Over the past five years, however, Pittsburgh has become a foodie playground. Countless articles have described chefs flocking to be part of the young urban feel in the cultural hub that is Pittsburgh. In December, Bon Appetit named Pittsburgh ‘the next big food town’ for 2014. Lawrenceville has its own restaurant directory. There are full-fledged sanctuaries devoted to burgers and hot dogs of all kinds. Food trucks have arrived. You can create your own beer at Copper Kettle Brewing Company five minutes from my house, and more craft breweries are popping up.

“There's a big boom in Thai food globally, and we aim to be at the vanguard of that boom,” says Pitaya Phanphenonsophon, CEO of Bangkok-based Mango Tree, already considered the world’s biggest Thai restaurant brand. What Pitaya started in 1994 has grown into 70 locations in 16 countries worldwide, with expectations to double its existing annual turnover to reach US$100million within two years as it sets it sights on expanding to 100 restaurants by 2015 with further expansion throughout Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, but also China, Australia and, in the United States

Los Angeles and New York are like two rivaling cousins. There’s always going to be something to argue about.One has captured the gritty, dog-eat-dog charisma of the family traits, while the other exudes a smooth, mellow, earthy nature. One can never seem to catch up with itself, while time moves fluidly in the other. One suffers the wrath of the seasons, while the other enjoys sunshine and breezy temperatures.

America has become a nation divided, one refrigerator at a time, as we have been bombarded with non-dairy options. Aside from the classic blue and red-capped milk jugs and white cartons, you might find soymilk, almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk and something labeled “nondairy beverage.” Don’t forget the vanilla and chocolate-flavored options. Next to that you might see yogurt: low-fat, nonfat, Greek, probiotic, soy, and almond. With such an array of options, how can we decide what’s best for our bodies? 

Despite a promising start, the rest of this film feels very much like a PR piece for potential investors. Which perhaps isn’t surprising: directed by Sky Pinnick, the producer is Kirk Ermisch, CEO of Southern Wine Group, a Latin American wine importer. Vineyards are beautiful, Mendoza seems like a fun and vibrant city, and it is nice that so many winemakers featured are given the space to talk about wine in their own words—other than a few notes that flash on the screen, the vintners basically tell the story. 

Warning! Your brown-bagged lunch may be illegal. “Sounds Cheesy” you might think, but the Swiss or mozzarella cheese on your sandwich may be considered contraband if the international food police are successful. The same goes for many meats, salads, teas and hundreds of other foods produced without authorization. Food inspectors around the globe are engaged in a conflict over regulations for trade. Because of varied production standards across borders, food manufacturers have struggled to develop trade agreements to satisfy the global marketplace.