It has happened time and time again; headlines flooding our newsfeeds making grossly inflammatory accusations about the Millennial generation being unsurpassingly lazy. These stories run rampant through major news outlets, though the stigma's been proven wrong time and time again. Most recently, millennials are being blamed for the drop in cereal sales.
That’s right, cereal. The food that requires the least amount of effort possible.
A New York Times report came out last week saying that the popularity of breakfast cereal has been on a slow decline with sales dipping from $13.9 billion in 2000 to about $10 billion in 2015. The article cited a survey that found about 40 percent of millennials said “cereal was an inconvenient breakfast choice because they had to clean up after eating it.” This is where the rest of high-brow news media lost their damn minds. Cue the headlines; Business Insider ran a story saying “Millennials Aren’t Eating Cereal Because It’s Too Much Work.” NY Mag’s headline read “Millennials Literally Too Lazy to Eat Cereal.” The article wrote, “What the f*** is wrong with you?” aimed directly at fellow Millennials. The Washington Post also fell guilty of perpetuating this lazy-stigma about the single largest group of people currently living in the United States.
Millennials aren’t lazy, many of us are just too busy for your damn cereal.
The biggest problem I have with this story is that despite the fact Millennials claim to be uninterested in eating cereal for breakfast due to the clean up, this doesn’t seem to be because we are “lazy.” The Washington Post pointed out that “many people are eating breakfast away from the home, choosing breakfast sandwiches and yogurt instead of more traditional morning staples,” or not eating breakfast at all. This could be largely due to the fact that many Millennials need convenient, on-the-go meals to save time during the day. A new report found that Millennials around the globe have started twice as many businesses as the Boomer generation and are discovering entrepreneurship earlier than preceding generations. College enrollment is also increasing—as is tuition—leaving little time to sit on the couch and enjoy a bowl of cereal for many working students.
Millennials are also largely responsible for the “clean label” movement and the shift towards cleaner eating. Manufacturers, retailers and restaurants are continuing to switch to more natural food ingredients with fewer artificial additives, including cereal giant General Mills. Entire organizations, such as Real Food Challenge, dedicate themselves to empowering youth to create healthier, fairer, food systems at universities. These healthier options, like smoothies and sandwiches, often take even more time and require even more clean-up effort, so asserting “laziness” on our lack of cereal eating does not add up.
