wine apart·ments (noun): A Tokyo property developer broke ground this year on the Shibuya Shinsen Wine Apartment Project, an upscale apartment complex aimed at wine lovers that will feature a wine bar and bistro on the ground floor, along with a 10,000-bottle underground wine cellar. The apartments are due to be completed in 2013.
sour·dough ho·tel (noun): Stockholm's Urban Deli charges 300 Swedish Krona ($43) per week at its surdegshotell (sourdough hotel) where sourdough starters are maintained with daily "feedings" of flour and water while their owners leave town for vacation.
broc·co·li man·date (noun): During oral arguments on the Affordable Care Act, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia famously invoked the concept of the "broccoli mandate" to dispute the constuitutionality of the law: "Everybody has to buy food sooner or later," he argued. "Therefore, you can make people buy broccoli."
butt chug·ging (verb): A University of Tennessee student was treated for severe alcohol poisoning following an incident at the university's Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house involving this method of intoxication, the latest in the annals of gastrogrotesquerie (see also "vodka tamponing"). The tecnique pouring liquor through a tube into one's rectum in order to absorb the alcohol quicker than drinking.
ul·tra-piz·za (noun): A trend toward pizza made with highly unorthodox ingredients -- from stilton to shrimp and even licorice -- became a subject of controversy in Naples, Italy.
po·ta·to move·ment (noun): As Greece descended into financial crisis, a new practice emerged, dubbed the "potato movement," whereby municipalities coordinate direct sales of potatoes and other agricultural products from producers to consumers. Consumers benefit from deep discounts over retail prices, and producers benefit by being paid immediately for their goods.
buzz bars (noun): The Indianapolis Star noted the emergence of buzz bars, coffeehouses serving alcohol in addition to coffee. It's a trend that may take off nationawide as Starbucks began piloting a "Starbucks Evenings" program featuring beer, wine, and small plates.
pink slime (noun): Meat processors came under attack for the practice of mixing this protein-rich beef product (which they would prefer be known as "lean finely textured beef") into hamburger meat.
foie·kage fee (noun): When California's ban on foie gras took effect this summer ("foiemageddon"), some restaurants protested by using a loophole in the law to charge a fee (akin to a corkage fee for wine) to prepare liver purcahsed in another state. See also: "duckeasies," a spin on prohibition-era speakeasies.
a·pork·a·lypse (noun): Fears of a worldwide shortage of bacon in 2013 exploded in social media following the dissemination of a report by the UK's National Pig Association claiming heavy drought conditions in Europe had so destroyed corn and soybean feed crops that a reduction of pork production was inevitable.
Originally posted on The Food Section.