2. Genetically engineered food: An issue that has been boiling in Europe is just beginning to simmer in the United States as technological advances in manipulating DNA create new questions.

Many crops and livestock are already genetically modified (GM), often to yield more food, resist pests or enhance nutrition. In the pipeline -- pigs that produce less waste, caffeine-less coffee beans, corn that can be harvested for medicine.

But concern is growing over the lasting effects of changing nature. While existing research has found little harm in genetic engineering, a recent Cornell University study found the pollen of a genetically engineered corn can kill the monarch butterfly larvae. This finding unnerved many and brought attention to the issue.

Environmental groups are already deep in a battle to stop the development of crop seeds that cannot regenerate, dubbed "Terminator" technology.

Two major baby food makers, Gerber and Heinz, will no longer use GM food, and the Food and Drug Administration recently held public meetings across the United States to address the issue of such foods.

3. Organic foods: More than just fresh veggies, the booming business of organic foods encompasses cheese, meat, wine, spices, nuts, canned goods -- even pet food. The variety of organic options continues to expand as the idea of fresh and unfettered food works its way into the mainstream.

Organic, while still lacking official definition by the federal government, generally means food grown or produced without the use of pesticides and preservatives, and recently, food unaffected by genetic engineering.

Expect more regulations and better government guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on what can be classified as organic. With that -- standardized labeling and regulated claims.

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4. Dining out: Americans are increasingly eating meals away from home, both sit-down restaurants and fast food. In the last decade alone there was a 14 percent decrease in the number of meals eaten at home.

At the same time, eating out is becoming easier and information-filled. Restaurants are just beginning to really open their doors on the Internet. Sites exist to make restaurant reservations, view menus, get restaurant recipes and tips from your favorite chefs.

The dining out trend and the demand for high-quality, chef-prepared food has fueled the creation of culinary celebrities and superstar chefs and has added clout to chefs everywhere.

Chefs are spending time out of the kitchen -- doing public demonstrations, teaching classes, appearing on TV, writing cookbooks, promoting lines of food products, creating menus for airlines.

"I wouldn't call it designer food," says Chicago chef Charlie Trotter. "It's more proven experts in the field."

He said consumers are looking for food they can trust to be good in a harried and time-crunched society.

5. Eating in: Eating in doesn't always mean cooking.

Supermarkets and gourmet markets are increasingly using shelf space for ready-made meals, frozen food tastes better all the time, cafes to upscale restaurants are offering neatly packaged food-to-go, and meals can be ordered over the Internet.

At the same time, cookbooks still sell well and gourmet kitchen stores proliferate -- lemon zesters are available everywhere.

Cooking is not as much as a necessity, as it is a hobby, a special treat. Home cooks are looking to more than mom, wanting to make the innovative food they try in restaurants.

6. Grocery shopping: And there is plenty in the grocery stores to tempt the home cook. New technology, speedy shipping and opening trade markets give shoppers an ever-increasing array of fruit and vegetables, meats and cheeses.

Organic foods are becoming more common in mainstream stores, and at some grocers, including Whole Foods, the concept exists in the form of a full-blown supermarket with shopping-cart-accessible aisles packed with organically produced fare.

7. Wine: No longer a world unto itself, wine is hip and accessible on a worldwide scale.

The Internet, chat rooms, newsletters, magazines and wine clubs are creating a whole new following as traditional "winespeak" and wine-sipping stereotypes are poured down the drain.

Small independent wineries, led by those in California, make it easy for consumers to connect with producers. And women winemakers continue to gain acceptance while making award-winning drink.

Dennis Overstreet, author of "Overstreet's New Wine Guide," predicts that the countries of South Africa, Chile and Spain will come into their own in the next 20 years with prime growing conditions and affordable land for wine production.

8. Food safety: Despite advances in awareness and food-handling practices, food safety is still a big concern as food travels farther from its origin, world markets open and the world becomes smaller.

Food can move quickly from producer to store shelves. Meat recalls for E. coli or salmonella bacteria can affect thousand of pounds of meats in multiple states.

Scientists are also alarmed that bugs that cause food-borne illness are increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotics.

The practice of irradiation is likely to become more widespread. In irradiation treatments, food is briefly passed under a source of gamma rays to kill a majority of pathogens before being packaged. The food does not become radioactive. Although somewhat controversial, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has just approved the process for meat.

9. Diminishing supply: Fish and seafood is touted as a healthy alternative to meat. But there is very real concern that the world's seafood supplies are running out due to overfishing.

Many U.S. restaurants fill plates with lobsters from Brazil or shrimp from Thailand since domestic sources cannot provide enough. Last year, the United States imported almost four times more seafood than it exported.

From swordfish in the Atlantic, to caviar-producing sturgeon in the Caspian sea, there is already a troubling shortage of some species.

Although the United States has restrictions on many types of seafood (shark, marlin, salmon) to give stocks a chance to recover, the world oceans are international, and many other countries have little or no regulations.

10. Agriculture: Although U.S. farmers have been hit hard recently by bad weather, worldwide surpluses, low prices and decreasing government help, the outlook is not so dismal.

A recent study by the International Food Policy Institute found the world's farmers will need to increase grain production by 40 percent to meet worldwide needs in 2020. Exports are expected to rise and the demand for meat in developing countries will grow.

But to survive, farms will have to be flexible to change, including adopting advance farming methods, diversifying crops or turning to specialty crops or livestock.

One of the most pressing issues for farmers: whether to use genetically engineered crops and livestock.