## Step 3 - Reading

You are going to read an article about the so-called millennial obsession with food.
Before you read, answer these questions.

1. Do you agree with the idea that millennials are generally speaking obsessed with food?
2. What evidence is there for that?
3. Why do you think your generation is obsessed with food in a way that previous generations have not been?
4. Some people say that people who take photos and post them are simply showing off. Do you agree? Why/Why not?
5. Millennials are accused of being narcissistic. Have you heard this opinion? What do you think about it?
   Why might older generations say that about your generation?

Read the text and check if your ideas are the same as the ideas that came up in the interview.

The author Eve Turow argues that a generation’s taste for natural ingredients will shape the future of restaurants, grocery stores, and agriculture. When Eve Turow, author of several books including A Taste of Generation Yum: How the Millennial Generation’s Love for Organic Fare, Celebrity Chefs, and Microbrews Will Make or Break the Future of Food, returned to her college campus for her five-year reunion, she realized that she’d changed. Back when she was in college, she was content subsisting on “gelatinous brown rice, pre-cooked mushy pinto beans, [and] blocks of bouncy tofu.” But if she were in college now, she says, she’d be taking rice-bowl inspiration from Pinterest and making good use of the nearby farmer’s market and the greenhouse attached to the science library. Turow’s theory is that in a digital-first era, many people latch onto food as something that engages all of the senses and brings people together in physical space. I spoke with her about why food culture has changed, whether it’s confined to the Millennial generation, and what that means for the food industry—chains, grocery stores, and big corporations included. The interview that follows has been edited and condensed for clarity. Joe Pinsker: I want to start with a simple definitional question. When you say that young people are obsessed with food, what exactly do you mean and what are the best examples of this obsession? Eve Turow: I think that a lot of people in our generation are thinking about, ‘What am I going to eat next?’ ‘Where am I going to go dine next?’ ‘What’s in the fridge and what can I put together tomorrow?’ I think that that’s expressed in social media. I think if an outsider were to come in and be like, ‘What’s your proof that people are actually interested in food?’ I would say, a) talk to anyone who lives in Brooklyn and b) go online. If you look at any of the statistics for Instagram or Pinterest or Twitter or Facebook: Pinterest, the food boards are the most popular boards. There’s a website that’s just foodporn.com where you can go look at food all day. Then there’s the Food Network, there’s Chopped, there’s the food proliferation on cable channels. I think it’s the most obvious way, so that you’re seeing the user-generated content and then also the media market's response to all of that interest. Pinsker: Why has this happened? Eve Turow: I really think it comes down to technology, for a few reasons. One, is sensory deprivation. We have formed into a society that’s so accustomed to sitting in front of a screen and typing, for the vast majority of the day. And the truth of the matter is that it’s not exciting all of our senses. Through interviews over and over again, I kept hearing that people want something that’s tangible, that they can see and feel and smell and taste and that we’re the guinea pigs of growing up in that [digital] world. At the same time, it’s also making us more isolated. We’re craving community. And food is also allowing us to access the globe, so we can find out what harissa is made with and how to prepare something with it, in two seconds on our phones. Pinsker: I feel like one reason that young people, or really, people, obsess over food is that it lets people have social currency. It’s a way of showing off. And there’s a weird dimension: You are demonstrating that you have the luxury to be very, very deliberate about something that a lot of people really struggle to have. Do these things cross your mind when you find yourself obsessing over cannoli or a pastrami sandwich? Eve Turow: I have a whole chapter dedicated to this, because I think it’s one of the most fascinating parts of the entire trend. And I think it’s one of the more uncomfortable ones. Because, even for myself, I had to look up at a certain point and say really, “Why am I posting this picture?” Is it for a sense of community or is it to show off? And if I was being honest with myself, it was a little bit of both, but mostly to show off. There’s commodity fetishism around organic kale at this point because we’re using it as an identifier. We’re using it as a signal of education, of knowledge, of income. One of the biggest things that’s thrown at this generation time and time again is that we’re narcissists. Part of the impetus for writing this book was a) I’m confused about why everyone is obsessed with food and b) does my generation really suck that much? Really asking a genuine question and part of the answer is well, yeah, we are more narcissistic because we are the kings of self-branding. You’re going to brand yourself differently for LinkedIn, than you are for Facebook, than you are for Snapchat, than you are for any other social media platform, OKCupid, or whatever.

Do you agree with Turrow? Why/Why not? Give your reasons.