Sometime around mid-December until about the end of the first week of January, we turn into list readers: What was big last year? What will be big in the new year? Shit, I even put together an Out 2010 →  In 2011 list for the blog. People love lists. Maybe humans are actually anal-retentive organizers at heart and we crave bullet points. I don’t know.

What I do know, however, is that list-makers all over the country have declared vegetables “in” for 2011. The Huffington Post gathered nine stories around the subject: from the Wall Street Journaldeclaring 2011 is the year of the vegetable to José Andrés admitting fruits and vegetables are “sexier than a piece of chicken” on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

But what I like best is Grant Achatz‘s answer. Well, tweet:

Most of this is silly, but I agree,
Vegetables will be the next focus.

Achatz is right. Trends are silly. I’m at the point in my life now where I can remember past fads. Low-fat. Low-carb. Pointy-heeled stilettos with flare jeans. I despised the low-carb lifestyle inflicted on this country (but I did love my heels!) and I couldn’t wait for pasta’s eventual return. But now I’m scared. Will today’s focus on sustainability, local eating, and vegetables be over when we discover possible pollutants in our soil? Will we swing back to the science lab and gladly eat genetically modified sweet potatoes?

I hope chefs continue to elevate real vegetables beyond 2011. And I hope leggings never go out of style.