Bacon, cupcakes, kale, quinoa. Food trends are easy to spot: when places like Panda Express and Jamba Juice incorporate kale into their dishes, magazines feature it on their covers and The New York Times writes about whether a food city like New Orleans eats it, well, that’s not a coincidence.

In reality, specific food trends such as these are indications of larger movements. Here’s a look at three:

Tech Tastemakers

Considering our dependence on our smartphones, it’s no surprise that they (and the Internet, more broadly) are changing our relationship with food. Thanks to photo sharing via Instagram, Facebook and the like, we constantly know what’s coming out of others’ kitchens and which restaurants have snapshot-worthy meals. This increased documentation of food has made eating more experiential; the acts of preparing and presenting food now interest even your next-door neighbor who struggles to make a grilled cheese.

Food Ph.D.

Not only are we more engaged with our food, but we’re more educated about food than we have been any time in recent history (Iconoculture, “The Year in Food and Beverage: 2012 Edition,” 2012). Whether fueled by the obesity epidemic, concern for the environment or a renewed interest in making things “the good ol’ way,” we’re more likely to read labels, seek out locally grown food and reject the processed, “industrial” food that signaled progress half a century ago.

Lean in or lean out?

Take that glut of information, pair it with the already unrealistic concept of the “supermom,” and you have an environment in which Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In – intended to help women advance their status – is met with responses like, “…we need to stop leaning in. It’s killing us.” Indeed, moms everywhere are reevaluating their priorities and accepting that no one can do it all.

For many, this means giving in a little bit on food. Parents, understandably, are “tired of having to consider so many factors: health, novelty, flavor, quality, locality, seasonality, cost…” So, they’re looking for brands that can help them effectively balance their ideals with their reality. This doesn’t mean Shake ’N Bake, but does mean moms are shopping at stores like Trader Joe’s (Iconoculture, “Big Ideas 2013: Foodies Recalibrate,” 2013).

With the average U.S. supermarket carrying nearly 44,000 items and our collective food education and interest increasing, food consumption in the United States is likely to become even more reflective of our broader ideals and pursuits. After all, you are what you eat.