A study by Quartz reports that over the last year, for the first time in history, Americans are spending more money at bars and restaurants ($54.9 billion) than at the grocery store ($52.5 billion).

That is not necessarily healthy, and it certainly is not economical, but it is what it is; and the huge social change is being driven by the millennials, a group that the U.S. Census Bureau says has surpassed us baby boomers as the largest generation earlier this year.

We boomers still enjoy being catered to, and pampered, over a good restaurant meal on occasion, but we are also on fixed incomes and value thrift.

I asked my wife why we don’t eat out more often, since she really does not enjoy cooking now that the kids are gone, and I certainly don’t enjoy my contribution to most home cooked meals, the cleaning up part.

She said “because you order and then you have to wait, and when you are done, you have to pay for it.”

Well, when she is cooking I have to wait, and we still had to pay for it, but the pay was up front at the grocery store.

The millennials must not like to wait and then pay for it either, because their favorite eating destinations are the fast casual joints. Places where you stand in line, then order your burrito built to meet your desires, pay $8-$15 without a tip, and sit down and eat with no wait staff catering to your every need.

You get to order your sauces, dips, beans and sides. And your lunch is assembled as you watch, not pulled from underneath the warming hood where it has sat for who knows how long.

Just 50 miles down the road from us, Denver has been the hub of many of these new style restaurant chains. Companies like Chipotle, Noodles, Qdoba and Smash Burger started there.

When my kids were growing up, McDonalds and Burger King were just fine, but not so much any more.

This generation cares about where their food comes, and how it was raised. And they don’t have the disposable income to be pampered over a fine steak on a regular basis and then expected to tip the staff.

It’s high time industry recognized these facts, because this shift in eating habits is driving the message home in spades.

So, you might be asking yourselves, what does this have to do with food safety?

Everything, really. The trend has changed to where now more cooks in fast casual restaurants are preparing meals than adults are at home, and we know how old those cooks are.

My concern is this: how well have they been trained in food safety protocols?

Millenials, restaurants and food safety

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