Eating locally gains support

The Nation's Restaurant News polled a number of chefs on what they thought were trends in the industry, and the good news is that many of them cited the increased use of local produce, meats and seafood as the top two trends. The other 18 top trends:

3. Sustainability
4. Bite-size/mini desserts
5. Locally produced wine and beer
6. Nutritionally balanced children's dishes
7. Half-portions/smaller portion for a smaller price
8. Farm/estate-branded ingredients
9. Gluten-free/food allergy conscious
10. Sustainable seafood
11. Superfruits (e.g. acai, goji berry, mangosteen, purslane)
12. Organic produce
13. Culinary cocktails (e.g. savory, fresh ingredients)
14. Micro-distilled/artisan liquor
15. Nutrition/health
16. Simplicity/back to basics
17. Regional ethnic cuisine
18. Non-traditional fish (e.g. branzino, Arctic char, barramundi)
19. Newly fabricated cuts of meat (e.g. Denver steak, pork flat iron, Petite Tender)
20. Fruit/vegetable children's side items
Source: The National Restaurant Association's What's Hot in 2010 chef survey

I'm not too wild about the newly fabricated cuts of meat - I like to know what part of the animal I'm eating, not some marketer's idea of what will sell me on eating it - but bring on more Arctic char! It's delicious.