Topic of Discussion: The Millennial Eating Habits

So, there was a discussion between myself, my mentor and some clients at the gym. The discussion was centered around understanding that getting “in shape” is a process. This is a understanding that millennials (born between 1981-mid 2000s) fall short on, as we love quick turn arounds on our investments.

But before we can dig into that topic in detail, I want to discuss a article I ran across from the business insider titled ” Millennials’ eating habits are wildly different from their parents’….”. This article doesn’t speak directly to the conversation we had that day but, it’s a result of thoughts that arose from it. The writers pinpoint the strong preference for convenience in the millennial generation. Of all generations (traditionalists, baby boomers, gen-xers), millennials populate restaurants in the largest numbers. In order to compete with this fact, grocery stores offer prepared meals and improving the existing options. While their doing that the restaurant industries are bringing the menus and ordering services to our finger tips. These few factors weigh heavy on the point of view of the young generation. One major factor is this generation is VERY demanding. Another factor I viewed in this article is the willingness to avoid cooking in comparison to the baby boomers and gen-xers. Now, one would argue that we are working more than our parents/grandparents but, studies show that to be false. We, in fact, work less and cook less. Even those of us that are in the higher income level choose a chipotle over pulling out the pots and pans on a Thursday evening.

If you ask me, I would say that we are the lazy generation compared to likes of our older generations. The luxury of convenience is abused at the expense of quick turn arounds on paying for food and receiving that food (I’m hungry now, I want food now). The $56 billion catering industry thrives off of our lack of patience to create meal prep for ourselves. I guess this what gives us the “purchasing power” noted in the article.

I don’t think there is a hidden solution to reversing the attendance in restaurants or at home with pre-made lasagna in the millennial. Redirecting that time spent else where to the kitchen with whole food items and pinterest is a start. Someone will argue that it’s easier said than done but, what does that really mean? Why do we find it easier not to cook? What are we doing with this time that we aren’t working?

Reference Article attached:

https://amp.businessinsider.com/how-millennials-eating-habits-differ-from-baby-boomers-2018-3