Our Food Trend Predictions For 2018 Slideshow

As Fortune noted, Blue Apron's stock is on the decline, and as more and more meal kit startups enter the fray with less and less to differentiate them from the pack, it's only natural for the herd to start thinning as the margins continue to shrink.

One way to add color? Edible flowers. But not just that: Floral flavors, like rose, lavender, elderflower, and hibiscus, are going to start showing up in a lot more foods, Whole Foods predicts.

Taking a cue from Hindu ayurvedic medicine, we can expect to see more and more people thinking of food as medicine, Food and Drink Resources predicts. "Healing" foods like apple cider vinegar, kefir, and turmeric have already caught on, but expect to see many more come to the forefront as more and more people look to food as a natural remedy for ailments including inflammation, digestive issues, depression, and fatigue.

"Knowing where your food comes from will continue to be something that both chefs and consumers are interested in," chef Curtis Stone told us. "I always try to source ingredients from local farms or sources I'm familiar with. In fact, at my restaurant I am constantly switching up the menu to incorporate fresh, seasonal ingredients."

Grain bowls are already very popular, but expect to see more of them on menus, as well as more bowl-centric restaurants. Food and Drink Resources predicts that the "new salad" will be comprised of your choice of grain, green, roasted vegetable, and dressing.

Lots of restaurants are already beginning to mill their own flours and incorporate new ones (including lots of gluten-free ones) into their dishes, so you can expect that trend to continue. Plain old table sugar is also giving way to different sweeteners, like sorghum, brown rice syrup, and coconut sugar.

There's a heavy wave of nostalgia rolling over the nation, and it's affecting what and how we eat. Sites like Goldbely are shipping foods we miss from the places we grew up across the country; and throwback dishes like prime rib, roast chicken, meatloaf, and deviled eggs, along with all sorts of comfort foods, are only getting more popular.

Whole-animal butchery is a popular trend at restaurants, and we don't expect to see that abating any time soon. But more and more restaurants will feature one ingredient across multiple dishes in order to showcase multiple preparations. "One of the cooking approaches I'm really trying to highlight now is how the same ingredient can have multiple applications across the menu without a guest feeling things like 'I had beets in my salad and now I'm having beets in my entrée,'" Gerron Douglas, the executive chef at Conrad New York, told us.

We want soda, but not necessarily the calories and chemicals they contain — so we're increasingly turning to sparkling beverages like LaCroix, or making them ourselves with SodaStreams. Don't be surprised if you find even more all-natural sparkling beverages — even cold-brew coffee — on the shelves next year.

Big portions of meat are out; vegetables are in. Meatless "fast food" chains like By Chloe, Amy's Drive-Thru, and Plant Power Fast Food are ramping up expansion plans; meat-free burgers like Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger are showing up on more and more restaurant menus; and better technology is making nut milks and other vegan nut-derived products tastier and easier to produce. Diners are also ordering more vegetables than in the past. "We are clearly going way more vegetable-focused than ever before," chef Bobby Flay told us. "The more vegetables I put on my menu at Gato, the more I sell. So, I think that you're going to see way more all vegetarian restaurants where you don't even need meat on the menu."