New Food Trends #9: Bartering for Food

Bartering itself is becoming more common as people look for ways to lessen their daily expenses. We already live in an economy where it often makes more sense to rent than to buy, like renting jewelry or even a name-brand purse for a special event. Or a special bit of lawn equipment for a weekend's work instead of doling out the large amount of cash to own the thing.  Many people have realized that it's much more economical to rent something for limited use, when otherwise the item would sit around unused for months or even years

And bartering is becoming more common. We're seeing it everywhere, not only in our neighborhoods, but in the news on a national, and even International level.  It's a time-honored tradition to barter food for service, or service for goods. Now we'll look for ways to apply this same mentality to bartering for food.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA's) are on the rise and Farmer's Markets have never been more popular, at least not in recent years. Roadside stands have become specialty purveyors fine foods and oh so chic. It's only natural that a flagging – or recovering, if you want – economy will spur new directions in bartering. It's a way to compensate for thick desires and thin wallets.

The only problem with bartering is that what one person has may not be the very thing you need. But the free market, quick to spot a trend and a profit opportunity, is coming to the rescue. Barter-exchange companies are popping up on the Internet. Now we have “trade dollars” to spend. BizXchange is a one such company redefining the way we do business with bartering.

So the trend is to see more of the bartering mentality to come to the forefront, and technology will help it along with the ways to connect the people. It will be coming soon to a Internet site near you, like Craig's List. We'll be trading or skill or service for food, and others will be trading their food for your service.

The popularity of Internet bartering will grow by leaps and bounds, and look for many more players on the Internet side of things. While this type of bartering bucks tradition – it's not face to face, we'll still this system soar via the Internet connections made available by technology.

But you'll see it in your own neighborhoods too, and in your relationships. Your Christmas gifts this year? How about a jar of your peach preserves made from your Grandmother's recipe. Or a special casserole dish, all dolled up with a big bow and a recipe card attached. But think in terms of bartering too. Those same gifts might make great payment for your neighbor who was kind enough to shovel the snow from your driveway. It's a basic idea, and it's been around since the beginning of the human race. One caveman/woman was good at making weapons, another at hunting, and still another at preparing the foods. It's a great development, and is one that hopefully won't go away when the economy becomes stronger. We'll become stronger too as we barter for food.

(The subject of this article comes from a list of the top 10 food trends developed by The Food Network, International Food Futurists, and Culture Waves.)