Searching for the perfect gifts for all the food nerds in your life this holiday season? Have no fear, our 2014 Food Tech Holiday Gift Guide is here. We’ve culled together tons of food gadgets, books, subscription boxes and more that are sure to satisfy everyone on your list. Got more kick-ass food tech gift ideas? Please let us know in the comments below, and we’ll add it to the list. You can also check out last year’s picks (there are a few repeats) if you want even more inspiration.
For the Food Entrepreneurs
We’ve got the perfect present for every food entrepreneur on your list. We recently launched Food+Tech Ed, an online learning platform that gives entrepreneurs the tools to launch and grow their businesses. What says “I love you” more that the gift of success? Check out our classes here.
For the Gadget Lovers
Perfect for your home cook friends, the Nomiku immersion circulator will let them cook like their favorite restaurants. The device turns any pot into a sous vide cooker – a process that uses sealed bags and precise heat to cook perfect dishes water bath-style. You can order the tender-inducing device for $199.95 or the wifi enabled version for $299.00 here.
Prep Pad is a great gift for health-conscious home cooks (with ample counter space). This smart food scale and accompanying app by The Orange Chef Company gives people real-time nutritional information about their food, so they better understand what they eat and learn how to make healthier cooking decisions. You can order it on Amazon for $149.95.
The Jawbone Up Band is perfect for just about anyone on your list. More than a health band or an app, it’s an integrated system that helps you understand how you sleep, move and eat. The accompanying app displays your movement and sleep data, calbrates milestones and let’s you connect with fellow users to collectively become healthier. You can order it starting at $64.49 on Amazon.
Vessyl is for all those drinkers on your list (alcohol and non). The smart cup automatically knows and tracks everything you drink and helps you reach your health goals, whether you’re looking to lose weight, stay hydrated, sleep better or curb your sugar intake. It also integrates with popular fitness bands to help give you a more holistic picture of your health. You can pre-order Vessyl for $99; it will ship in early 2015.
The Aroma R-Evolution Fork is ideal for the culinary adventurers in your life (if they’re kids, all the better). Using diffusing papers and aroma capsules, it tricks your taste buds into thinking that vegetables taste like coconut, truffle, almond and 18 other scents. You can order the fork kit complete with a suggested multi-sensory dinner program from Amazon for $58.95.
For the DIYers & Makers
Windowfarms makes a choice present for any veggie and design loving urban dweller. You can grow greens, herbs and small vegetables inside year-round with its sleek hydroponic growing system. And its new ReFresh Plans are like a seedling CSA; farmers plant your crops and ship them to you when they’re ready for harvesting each month. So the home-grown veggie train never stops. You can order Windowfarms starting at $175.95 here.
Provisions, Food52′s home and kitchen e-commerce site, is the creme dela creme for one-of-a-kind kitchen finds, and artisan goodies, kits and tools. It also has scores of gift guides for every food lover on your list – gardeners, coffee addicts, kids, you name it. It goes without saying, there’s something on Provisions for all your friends and family. Dive in here.
For the vegan’s and vegetarians in your life, Roaring Brook Dairy: Tofu Making Kit makes a fantastic little gift. It yields a pound of DIY tofu, and all you need is a blender (a food processor works, too) and a lemon. The kit also includes a recipe to make soy milk out of the left over soy beans. Snap up a few kits on Amazon for $18.56 a piece.
Stu’s Bloody Mary Mixology Kit will make anyone on your list a badass drink maker. It comes with everything you need to make a kick-ass bloody mary, including 8 bottles of its signature concentrate and additional bottles of kickers like ghost hot pepper sauce, lime juice and sweet corn powder for that pristine rim dip. You can buy it on Amazon for $40.
Momofuku Milk Bar Cookie Mixs are great for your favorite cookie-holic. The renowned confections from master baker Christina Tossi will make anyone’s holiday just a little bit sweeter. Each mix makes 12 cookies, and you can buy all the classic flavors: Compost (not actual compost, but a perfect blend of chocolate, butterscotch chips, oats, graham crackers and coffee), Corn and Blueberry & Cream at Williams Sonoma for $16.95 each.
For the Bibliophiles
Mario Batali’s latest cookbook America–Farm to Table: Simple, Delicious Recipes Celebrating Local Farmers will be the apple of any local food-loving cook’s eye this year. It celebrates chefs, farmers and dishes from all over the country. Batali’s chef friends like Jose Andres and Matt Dillon introduce their favorite farmers, who share their stories, produce and products and take us on a tour of American local cuisine. Grab it in hardcover for $23.37 or the kindle edition for $16.99 on here.
Dan Barber’s new book The Third Plate proves a perfect present for the food system innovators in your life. It explores how today’s growing farm-to-table food culture has failed to change how we eat. After ten years of engaging with farming communities worldwide, Barber offers a radical, environmentally sustainable and tasty new way of thinking about our food future. You can order it in hardcover for $18.94, paperback for$14.25 and kindle edition for $14.99 here.
Nicolette Hahn Niman’s latest book Defending Beef: The Case for Sustainable Meat Production is a must-read for any carnivore on your list. Hahn Niman makes the argument that cattle are not inherently bad for the planet or public health. She outlines why properly managed livestock is vital to maintaining grassland ecosystems and argues that grass-fed, small-scale farms should, and more importantly, can, become the basis for American food production. You can order it for Kindle for $9.99 on Amazon.
Ellen Gustufson’s We the Eaters: If We Change Dinner, We Can Change the World is the ideal selection for agriculture, public health and food policy nerds. It explores the 1 billion hungry, 1 billion overweight dichotomy and lays out a bevy of actionable solutions – ripple effect solutions that could start by changing just one on our dinner plates. You can buy it on Amazon in hardcover for $18.29 or for Kindle for $9.99.
Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking is a must-have for both chefs and home-cooks of the nerdy variety. The massive six volume encyclopedia covers the history of cuisine and explores the science of cooking in minute detail. Its beautiful illustrations and highly specialized techniques will enchant and inspire any food lover in your life. You can purchase it for $507.81 on Amazon.
Modern Farmer makes an ideal gift for anyone who’s interested in where their food comes from and the people that produce it. Its daily website and print quarterly tell beautiful and eye-opening stories of how our food reaches our plates. You can gift a 1 year subscription to the magazine for $24 or a 2 year subscription for $34. Learn more here.
Lucky Peach, the irreverent food magazine by David Chang and the Momofuku team, offers the perfect gift for artists and foodies alike. Each issue focuses on a single food theme, and explores it through writing, art, photography and recipes. You can gift a 4 issue subscription for $28 or an 8 issue subscription for $50. Learn more here.
Cherry Bombe is a sleek and beautiful bi-annual magazine that celebrates women and food – growers, makers, stylers, eaters, etc. Featuring interviews with and stories about icons like Ruth Reichl and Chloe Sevigny, Cherry Bombe is all about nourishment for the mind, eye and stomach. You can gift a 1-year subscription for $38 or a 2-year subscription for $75 here.
No matter where your food loving friends live, Edible Communities subscriptions make for a prize gift. With local publications across the nation the beautifully designed quarterly magazines tell to stories of local farmers, growers, chefs, and food artisans. You can give the gift of local food exploration for $24 for a 1-year subscription, $42 for a 2-year and $52 for a 3-year. Check them out here.
For the Local Food Lovers
Farm to People has heaps of artisanal, small-batch products for craft food lovers, everything from ostrich jerky to goat milk caramels. It also has scores of gift boxes (prices range from $35 – $150) with cheeky titles like the Paleo Cave Man and the Brooklyn Bundle. And, FTP is doing a foodieodicals online pop-up in partnership with Food Book Fair. So it’s the perfect online destination not only for top-notch local products, but the latest and greatest food magazines, too. Take a spin here.
Newly-launched Undiscovered Kitchen offers a marketplace of unique, handcrafted products. Whether that special someone on your list is into sweets, more savory nibbles, fitness-focused foods or a bevy of other categories, Undiscovered Kitchen’s growing platform has got tons of great treats in store. Its gift boxes are discounted for the holidays and range from $64.99 to $119.99. Check them out here.
Mouth has a bevy of tasty treats for craft food lovers. The e-commerce marketplace showcases the best of the best in “indie” foods, from chocolate covered jalapeno corn nuts to organic chamomile bitters, and everything in between. And for the holidays the site is offering special gift packages, like 8 Nights of Hanukkah and Bring Home the Bacon. Prices range from $40 – $125. Dive in here.
For the Subscription Box Types
Love With Food is an awesome gift for any food explorer on your list. The company offers subscription boxes of unique, emerging natural and organic snacks for as little at $10 a month. And for every box you receive, the company donates a meal to a food bank. Additionally, you can buy or redeem points to get more of your favorite snacks on the site. Grab a gift subscription here.
Plated delivers weekly changing recipes – like a quinoa, kimchi, and seasonal veggie rice bowl – along with all the fresh ingredients you need to prepare them directly to your door. Give your favorite person the gift of easy to make, extraordinary meals with a Plated gift certificate, which cost between $60 and $360 and can be purchased here.
Blue Apron delivers pre-measured ingredients and step-by-step recipes to your doorstep. It sources the best local ingredients for unique dishes – like braised Moroccan-style salmon and greens -which allows budding home-cooks to spend more time in the kitchen honing their culinary skills. You can gift a 1, 2 or 4 week subscription at $9.99 per person per meal here.
WorkPerks is the perfect gift for all your team. The company is dedicated to redefining the status quo of office snacking and empowering healthier, more productive employees through its customizable healthy snack subscription boxes. Its holiday snack boxes provide a welcome change from all the cookies and candies that seem to be falling from the sky this time of year. They range from $50.00 to $129.00. Check them out here.
HelloFresh delivers fresh ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes – like caramelized union shepard’s pie- to your doorstep weekly. Its recipe cards come complete with nutrition information and difficulty level rating and take roughly 30 minutes to prepare. You can give the gift of one week (three meals for 2-4 people) for $69 – $79 here.
Unique Dining Experiences
A Kitchensurfing gift card makes a perfect present for anyone who wants to enjoy restaurant-quality food in the comfort of their own home. You can browse the online chef marketplace for the perfect chef, collaborate on the ideal menu for you and your guests. Then all you have to do is host your little heart out and your Kitchensufing chef takes care of the rest – dishes, too. Gift cards are available for $50, $100 and $30o here.
James Beard House gift cards are great for your food afectianado friends who also call themselves New Yorkers. The former home of celebrated cookbook author and television personality James Beard, the space hosts over 20 events a month ranging from cocktail parties and dinners to talks and chef tours. You can purchase a gift card through OpenTable here.
Food Classes
4505 Meats classes are ideal for an San Francisco-based DIYer who wants to get their hands dirty. From whole animal butchering to sausage making to charcuterie, these classes teach guests about how to prepare, cook and eat sustainable meat. You can learn more here.
First Class Cooking offers San Francisco-based folks hands-on cooking classes in a casual, supportive and fun environment. All classes are designed to teach you the basics of cooking healthy and delicious meals using top-quality, local and seasonal ingredients. Classes are limited to 12 people and cost between $65 – 100. Sign up here.
The Brooklyn Kitchen offers classes that range from breaking down a whole animal to knife skills to home brewing. They also have an e-commerce site with some of the top gadgets, cookware and ingredients. Classes range between $65 – 85, and you can check out the offerings here.
Fleisher’s offers a variety of introductory Butchery courses covering things like knife skills, safety techniques, basic anatomy, sausage making and hands-on lamb and pig carving. Classes range from $150 – $200 and can be purchased here.
Support the Good Food Movement
FoodCorps is a nationwide team of leaders that connects kids to real food and helps them grow up healthy. It places motivated leaders in limited-resource communities for a year of public service. They teach kids about the benefits of healthy food, build and tend school gardens and bring high-quality local food into public school cafeterias. Support youth food education by donating here.
The National Young Farmers Coalition supports, mobilizes and engages young farmers and works to ensure their success. It supports independent farms, sustainable farming practices and affordable land for farmers. Benefactors help cultivate the next generation of farmers, and additionally, they receive discounts on stuff like tools, seeds and fertilizers. Learn more here.
The Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) is the first and only independent non-profit news organization that produces in-depth journalism on food, agriculture, and environmental health. Donations help FERN continue to produce stories that inform and inspire, and make lasting impact on our food system. You can learn more and donate here.
Food Tank, the food think tank, offers sustainable solutions to the biggest environmental and social challenges facing our food system. Through its website and events, Food Tank facilitates collaboration between players across the entire food food chain. You can donate to its Sustainers Program here to help fund new research on hunger, obesity, food justice and sustainability.
The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD), a non-profit chartered by the New York State Education Department, is launching a revolutionary food museum in NYC. MOFD aims to alter the way people think about food and inspire curiosity about what we eat. Donations will help the team plan and fundraise to launch the museum. Learn more here.
Heritage Radio Network is a radio station and media company committed to archiving and advancing our food culture and giving a voice to our leading food professionals, farmers, policy experts and tastemakers. By donating to Heritage Radio, you’ll be supporting one of the most progressive voices for food and culture radio in America. Learn more and donate here.
NY Sun Works builds innovative science labs in urban schools. Its Greenhouse Project Initiative uses hydroponic farming technology to educate students and teachers about the science of sustainability. Its goal is to build 100 greenhouse project labs by 2020. By supporting New York Sun Works, you’ll be helping make that dream a reality. Learn more and donate here.
Slow Food USA is on a mission to make good, clean and fair food accessible to all. It has 175 local and campus chapters that coordinate local activities, projects and events. By donating to Slow Food, you’ll help support school gardens and family-style community suppers and help strengthen local food culture. Learn more an donate here.
Civil Eats is the go-to resource for the food movement journalism. Its stories dig deep into national food policy issues and profile food heroes from across the country. By supporting Civil Eats, you’ll be aiding it its mission to build more environmentally, economically and socially just communities. You can donate here.
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