Let Them Eat Cereal (for Dinner)
What does food we eat, or rather can afford to eat, tell us about the society we live in
A couple of days ago, Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick gave people strapped for cash a piece of advice: just ‘eat cereal for dinner.’
Well. Telling people to opt for a bowl of processed oats and sugar instead of a regular meal would’ve been (sort of) funny if so many people weren’t struggling to put food on their table today. But they are.
In the US, people are spending more of their income on food than they have in 30 years, and there’s been a sharp rise in food insecurity, with 1 in 8 households suffering from it. In the UK, where I live, the situation is even more dire: nearly 1 in 5 households struggle to get enough food.
And that’s thanks to, oh yes, companies like Kellogg’s and all the other food manufacturers controlling most of the things we buy, like Coca-Cola, Mondelez and General Mills, ramping up their prices. This, combined with all the other increases in the cost of living, has squeezed many consumers to the point where some will indeed have to consider eating cereal for dinner. Or skipping it altogether.
Actually, last year’s Wall Street Journal article did suggest something along these lines, only for breakfast. But that’s just one…