Movement in the future

I recently read this article on CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/02/health/children-awareness-food-enayati/index.html) about how kids these days are much more aware of what's "healthy."  The author sees kids as a new line of activists for food.  When she was a child, she recalls that her method of differentiating between foods was "like" and "dislike." Kids, these days on the other hand, are likely to know the difference between high fructose corn syrup and sugar.  They are more likely to avoid foods with high saturated fat or sodium content.  Basically, there is a growing awareness in the youngest generation of what constitutes "real food."

My last blog post touched on some key points that his author brings up in her article.  The first one being our generation's growing reliance on transparency of information regarding our food.  Policy like prop 37 at its core is promoting information.  It is meant to inform people so that they can base decisions off facts instead of a colorful label.  This young generation is being exposed all the time to their parents' increasing inquisition into the contents of their food, and it is likely that this will continue to when they become voting age.  It also represents a dichotomy between the oldest sector of the population and the one we are a part of.  Like I said before, even people like my dad who has a solid understanding and respect for natural, healthy foods do not necessarily put it as a priority in part because it was just not as universal of a value as it is starting to become now.

I think this article also highlights one of the discussions we had in class about whether or not the food movement is an actual movement or not.  Well, even though it may not be now, if this article is any indication of what our youngest generation is thinking and talking about, then it very well could become a movement in the next decade or two, when these kids start growing up and get into a position to ask for political and social change.  Maybe the movement is still in its infant stages right now.  Maybe transparency is really the central issue of what the movement is headed towards being about.  Whatever it is, I have faith that this will eventually become a full-fledged movement, in part due to these kids growing into the power of their voices.