Why do people eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day?

There are people out there who make it a mission to eat pork and sauerkraut the first chance they get on New Year’s Day. Here’s the reason why.

Pork and sauerkraut are two things that go hand-and-hand with each other on New Year’s Day. If it’s not your cup of tea, I understand, but there are people that must have their pork and sauerkraut the first day of the New Year just like there are folks that can’t make it through the year without their black-eyed peas.

So why do folks make a big deal out of eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day? I did some digging to find out the reason, and here’s why.

Just like black-eyed peas, eating pork and sauerkraut is supposed to bring you good luck throughout the year. While the peas represent good luck on each day, people eat pork because pigs root forward with their noses when they chow down.

To put it another, less confusing way, the pig looking forward while eating is a symbol of looking forward to greater things in the New Year.

Got it? Good. Now, what about the sauerkraut?

Well, sauerkraut is usually paired with pork so that means that along with the salty meat, the sauerkraut will bring you good luck as well. Like black-eyed peas are to southerners, pork and sauerkraut is a Dutch tradition popular with folks in the Northeast and Midwest, mainly Pennsylvania and Ohio.

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Eating pork and sauerkraut is just one of the many weird food traditions that are taken very seriously by the folks who follow them. Will these food bring good luck in 2017? Maybe, maybe not, but if your 2016 was cruddy, it won’t hurt trying something different to boost your prosperity cred.

So if you’re not a peas person, give the port and sauerkraut a chance and hope that 2017 will indeed be your year.