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With a spending power of about $2.45 trillion and digital savvy wherewithal, 20-and-30-somethings have brands in the palms of our hands. We’ve learned about the preservatives in our food and asked that what we eat be simple (follow the Pollan rules!); We discovered GMOs and said ‘if we don’t understand it, we don’t want it’; We’ve put pressure on food giants . . . and they have responded. It’s clear we have the power to influence change.
Yet as we’re clamoring for organic, local and natural goods, I’m not sold that there really is a food movement. And here’s why:
I spent the last four years investigating the Millennial generation and food culture. . . . What I came away with was a realization that we. . . are using food as comfort; it is the antidote to our chaotic, tech-filled, unpredictable realities. . . .
And this makes sense — after all, food is soothing! At the same time, food policy encompasses the most dire issues our generation will surely face: obesity, climate change, food access. . . I began to wonder: where are all the conversations about the SNAP program, farm subsidies and pesticide runoff among the debates of cronuts, ramen and Franklin’s BBQ? From everything I can see . . . foodies are only influencing policy when it directly benefits us as individuals, not us as a nation.
. . . . Why? My research indicates that eating foods with labels you can understand makes you feel safe. . . Improving Fair Labor Standards for farm workers doesn’t create that same, immediate satisfaction.
. . . .
Which begs the question: Will young food enthusiasts act with the same fervor on less accessible food issues or simply fall short once we’ve assured our own good eating?
Read full, original post: How Millennials Faked the Food Movement
