Lucky Foods for a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the Chico Certified Farmers’ Market! We wish you a joyful and healthy year filled with good food and great community! The last year has been a long one for everyone – we wanted to share some foods that are considered good luck and attract prosperity in the coming year – all of which you can get at the market this Saturday!

Greens

Supposedly greens are a go-to New Year’s Eve food because they resemble money. It’s common for people in the south to eat black-eyed peas and leafy greens for good luck on New Year’s Day. Add a slice of cornbread, and you’ve got “peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold.”

Beans

Beans, like greens, resemble money; more specifically, they symbolize coins. Traditionally, in the American South, beans are combined with rice and bacon for a lucky New Year’s Eve dish called Hoppin’ John.

Fish

Fish are believed to be a lucky New Year’s Eve food because their scales resemble coins (and plenty of them!), and they swim in schools, which invoke the idea of abundance. They also swim forward, which represents progress.

Pork

Pork for progress! Pigs root around with their snouts moving in a forward motion, which is why many cultures around the world eat pork on New Year’s Day to symbolize progress for the coming year. They are also round and fatty, which is said to symbolize prosperity and a full wallet.

Cake

Ring-shaped cakes and other rounded sweet treats bring a full circle of luck to the eater. In some traditions, a coin is baked inside to bring an extra serving of luck to the one who finds it.

Pomegranates

In Greek tradition, families toss a pomegranate against their front door when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. The more seeds fall out, the more luck and fertility that household will be blessed with.

Grapes

On New Year’s Eve, Spaniards pop a grape for each stroke of midnight, with each representing a page of the calendar ahead. If one is bitter, watch out for that month!