“For a generation that spends more and more of its time virtually, food is tangible, immediate and gratifying”

Last spring I taught a course at USC Annenberg School of Journalism called “Food, Media and Culture.” It struck me how much time and money my young students spent eating out (and posting their meals on Instagram). Then I realized: For a generation that spends more and more of its time virtually, food is tangible, immediate and gratifying. Young people may not have to pay for music or TV, but you can’t pirate food. Entertainment, even sex, comes to this generation via a screen, but no tech guru has been able to figure out a way to digitize dinner. In an increasingly virtual world, food is their last real, authentic experience.

Rob Eshman, “There Will Be Blood”, Jewish Journal (6-12 November 2015), 29.