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Gen Z Food Culture
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Grab your favorite snack because this episode is all about food. Sophia Rascoff, founder of the social media app ReCon Food, joins this episode to discuss Gen Z food culture. From what Gen Z likes to eat and Gen Z values around food to the role of social media and digital environments, this episode dives into all things Generation Z food culture.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to hashtag Gen Z. I'm your host, Megan Grace.
00:00:18
Speaker
Hello and welcome back. This is episode 39 of hashtag Gen Z. As you know, we're diving deep into culture this season. With culture being a celebration of shared values, behaviors, and perspectives, we're exploring Gen Z cohort culture in this episode through the lens of food. When you think about it, food plays a big role in culture. For many cultures related to geography or ethnicity, food is critical as a component to celebrating culture.
00:00:43
Speaker
It brings people together and is used to mark special occasions. Just think about your own family and the culture that you hold. You likely have a special dish or a meal that you share around holidays, birthdays, or other special events. For me and my family, we always have Texas sheet cake on my birthday. Or maybe you eat certain foods to practice a set of values, like Meatless Monday to minimize food consumption for environmental reasons.
00:01:07
Speaker
Food is a choice we make as individuals, but it also connects us and relates us to others, which is why I'm excited for this episode's discussion.
Meet Sofia Raskov: Teen App Founder
00:01:15
Speaker
I'm joined by Sofia Raskov, the co-founder of Recon Food. Sofia is a teen app founder and social entrepreneur with a goal of making social media a healthier and happier place for the next generation.
00:01:26
Speaker
To achieve that, Sophia has founded a new app, Recon Food, a vertical social media app that focuses on sharing about food in a toxic free environment, free from politics, negativity, or off target advertising. Recon Food is all about connecting people with a positive space through shared love of food. So please help me in welcoming Sophia to the podcast.
00:01:52
Speaker
So I'm very excited to focus today's conversation on food. I think a thing that we all love. And I'm really excited to be joined by a member of Gen Z that is equally passionate about this, but is really putting a new spin on social media. So welcome to my new friend Sophia. Sophia, it's great to have you here. Why don't you tell our listeners a little bit more about who you are and really where you got to what you're working on today. Thank you so much for having me. So I founded an app called Recon Food about a year and a half ago now.
00:02:22
Speaker
And the intention behind Recon Food was to create an app that was a different version of social media in the vertical of Just Food. So instead of being a catch-all for every single thing that happened in the world, the app focuses on Just Food. It's the best parts of Instagram. And on the app, you can share home-cooked meals or when you eat out with friends. It's a very social app, but it's also a bit of an intentional protective bubble almost. When you go on the app, you know it's just going to be food.
00:02:51
Speaker
It's not going to be news or anything stressful or anything political. It's a really pure environment to just relax and detoxify, which is really important in a social media, at least in my opinion. Outside of Recon Food, I'm a student. I am super involved in my school's entrepreneurship community, and I really love the entire, I really love entrepreneurship just because you can help so many people and feel like you're trying to impact a big problem that you feel affects you as well.
00:03:21
Speaker
That's amazing. I am fascinated, listeners that have been around with me for a little while know I'm fascinated by entrepreneurship. I think it's such an interesting thing to be able to not only partake in, but to keep an eye on some, especially of our young entrepreneurs. So I'm glad to know that there's someone like you that's passionate and is bringing that to create good things. And as you explained, Recon Food, I was just thinking of the worst food pun possible. Really, Recon Food feels like a palate cleanser for all of the other stuff that goes on on social media.
00:03:51
Speaker
comparison where you feel like you're in posture or you're like, wow, I really wish I could be on that person's vacation. This one's very different words. Like I really wish I was eating that person's cookie, pie, snack, whatever it is.
Inspiration Behind Recon Food
00:04:03
Speaker
I can definitely see how that would be really welcomed in spaces where yes, the world feels scary. So I know you, you know, you talked a little bit about its purpose, but really what inspired you? What was the moment where you said, yes, I think
00:04:18
Speaker
this is the app I want to pursue? Can you think back to that? Or was it just kind of like something you were kicking around over time? Totally. Well, the other great thing about recon food that I've loved and really pushed us to continue making it is just like you said, it's much safer environment. Because it's only food, the bar is much lower. Honestly, when you think about posting on Instagram, Instagram is such a highlight reel where it's like the top
00:04:43
Speaker
3% of everyone's lives, which is such a broad concept as opposed to on recon food you get like 95% of the food so it's less Perfect, and I think that's also something really important to the culture of it
00:04:57
Speaker
And that's definitely part of what pushed us to create the app. We created it during COVID, which was a time where food was really impacting our family a lot because we were all home. We were all cooking meals every night all together, trying new recipes, baking a ton. And it was really something that brought our family together because we hadn't always been at the dinner table together before COVID. So that really provided us an opportunity
00:05:22
Speaker
to connect and bond more over food. And as we were creating this, we wanted to share with friends and show them, hey, look what we're making. This was a great recipe. But the Instagram isn't the right place to do that. It didn't feel like our food was good enough to post on Instagram. It felt weird posting food on Instagram, which is, I'm sure, an experience that other people have as well. And so we wanted to create a social media app
00:05:49
Speaker
where you could share and this is where the name comes from, reconnect with your friends and family over a shared love of food. So that's really what got the idea started and as time progressed from the beginning of the pandemic until now, we continued seeing social media become this even more toxic, even more stressful,
00:06:11
Speaker
I don't know, cesspool. So as life continues and social media is used for some good things, like I love seeing social media being a tool for people to connect and share their causes and protests and everything. It's so powerful to see. But also at the same time, that can be stressful and seeing news on social media. It's a great way to spread the news. It doesn't make you feel very good when you're using social media.
00:06:35
Speaker
So there's definitely a balance there and just as that continued and progressed We just felt this need for this. Like you said palette cleanser even more.
Gen Z and the Cultural Shift in Food
00:06:44
Speaker
That's amazing I love the the reasoning behind the name as well this idea of like reconnecting It's making me think I'm like my own social media use. Yes. It's so easy especially as we're thinking about like today's world there's so much movements around some scary and dangerous stuff think like
00:07:01
Speaker
violence in schools. We're seeing a lot of really important advocacy taking place, but that also feels like we're braided by these serious topics. I know personally when I'm feeling that way, I'm like, well, I'm just going to go to the we rate dogs Instagram and, um, look at all these cute dogs. Cause that always helps. But now as an avid eater, I feel like I'm going to need to check out recon food and figure out what other people are eating. Cause I think that that is, um, just a great way again, to just like take your mind off things, maybe get a little hungry.
00:07:30
Speaker
We intentionally don't have the Food Network in my house because I will just sit there and look at shows forever about food. But I think there is a lot that people, regardless, and as you said, maybe you don't feel like your cooking is Instagram worthy, which I think is silly. If you're proud of your meal, put it on Instagram. Your plating doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to be Gordon Ramsay. But I do think that there's that element when I share about what I'm baking or whatever I'm eating on Instagram. People always are like, oh, can you send me that recipe?
00:07:59
Speaker
Does recon food have an ability to share recipes with people if they were to be like, that chocolate chip cookie looks amazing? Can you do link sharing? Yeah, we have a built-in recipe feature where you can share either a photo or a recipe from a recipe book. You can attach a link or you can type in your own recipe. Those really creative home chefs could never be me, but in mad respect. But what you were saying about the feeling like your food isn't Instagram worthy is exactly the point because
00:08:27
Speaker
I mean, all your food should be Instagram worthy. Why should you care what you post on Instagram looks like? But at the end of the day, a lot of people do. I mean, I know I do. And so while we like to recognize that this
00:08:41
Speaker
is not, should not be true. There is a reality to just what Instagram and what social media is, again, because it encapsulates such a broad genre, or yeah, genre. So I like to think of Strava as a really good example, which is, in case you don't know, it's a vertical social media network for running. So you track your runs and track your athletic activities, and then it shares them to your Strava friends. So for me, I love to use it. I'm on the trying cross-country teams and we all share our runs together.
00:09:10
Speaker
But I don't post my runs on Instagram because Instagram isn't really for running. You can if you're, especially if you're a professional athlete on Instagram, go for it. But for me on Instagram, that's not really what my, um, I don't know. That's just not really what I tend to do. And I don't know if there's a reason for that, but I feel much more comfortable sharing my runs, especially my bad runs on Strava with my friends who know me for running as opposed to with my Instagram, which is sort of just to catch all of like everyone I know.
00:09:37
Speaker
and everyone I don't know. And other people, yeah. Well, you can share your runs with me because I'm not a runner. So anything you do, I'm going to be like, that's incredible. Like I, maybe I'm like, if you're like, I need someone to really boost me up, it's me. Cause I'm just like, I did a mile today people. So I'm definitely not on Strava because distance running is not my thing, but I absolutely know what you're saying. Like there is this space where.
00:10:00
Speaker
sometimes Instagram can feel scary because it's almost like the new public square, if you will. Like you could share anything you want to, but you're also opening yourself up to anyone saying anything about it. Whereas sometimes this niche feeling or these niche spaces based on our interests or our passions can be really a safer space for us. And you can still find that connection that's so important. I think about, so my husband, he's a brewer, so he makes his own beer.
00:10:30
Speaker
but is big into the craft beer scene as well. And they've got specialized apps and all of his beer friends have all these apps and they share, I'm sure you've probably heard of Untapped even though you're old enough to drink, but similar concept as to what your app does is where you're able to share about your beer, what your notes were, where you got it, the location you had it on Untapped. And I think it really is a unique way to pull together people's passions. So I really love what you are, you're working on it and what you're sharing with the world. I think that's so important and kind of putting
00:10:59
Speaker
something new into that space, especially as a young entrepreneur and doing that. I know I'm going to share about it. I've got some chef friends. I'll probably blow that app up and every time that they make something, I'm like, can you share the recipe? They're like, I didn't even write it down. I'm like, well, can you please write it down on Recon so I can attempt to follow, attempt to follow.
00:11:19
Speaker
You are a member of Generation Z. I don't want you to feel like you have to be the voice of all of Generation Z related to food. But I'm always curious. We know that eating and diet and preferences around nutrition have really evolved even in the last 10 years. I'm not saying it's Gen Z driven. I think our society is moving a little bit towards different types of food. But I would love to know from your perspective, because I think that you've got a really good vantage point given your app and the work that you do with Recon.
00:11:47
Speaker
What are some of the perspectives that you see among your Gen Z peers related to food and how that fits into Gen Z culture? I think food had a really interesting time during COVID-19, which I think is probably the biggest
00:12:02
Speaker
at least for younger Gen Z, especially one of the biggest events that has impacted life as it did for so long. So food really transformed over that because you saw a lot more restaurants doing takeout meals and a lot more
00:12:20
Speaker
connecting with friends over food, even if you're not in the same city or same country, which I think was really interesting to see. Now,
Media Influence on Food Culture
00:12:27
Speaker
as we're getting back to it, I think delivery, honestly, was a key thing during especially the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, which I think we're still seeing a lot of, which I support. But then as far as like you mentioned with nutritional stuff and diet, this may be tinted by the fact that I live in LA. So obviously a different culture around food altogether. I think that
00:12:50
Speaker
what i see a lot of is more healthy food but more good tasting healthy food like trying to make healthy food more accessible and more delicious as opposed to old diet culture of just eating something really gross in hopes that it'll make you skinnier that's not really the
00:13:08
Speaker
the like culture anymore at least that I see and I hope that's true everywhere I see my friends and I get like acai bowls a lot I think that's a great example or a smoothie bowl it's really good tasting at least to us we like the ones we get um but it's also healthier I mean I'm sure someone will tell me oh there's a lot of sugar in it but yeah but like at the end of the day it's mostly fruit and you know fruit's healthy so stuff like that where um
00:13:37
Speaker
It's healthy food that is not, I think, I mean, obviously I wasn't present then, but I've heard a lot about diet culture of the years going way back, even before the early 2000s, where it was a lot more of like starving yourself off. And I hope that we're moving away from that. I think maybe we are in some ways. And so that's just something that I really like to see. And then also just, of course, food being used as a social medium.
00:14:06
Speaker
which has continued, I think. My friends and I go out to eat together a lot. That's probably one of the main activities we do. My friend and I just the other day got food, brought it to a park, had a nice little picnic. Stuff like that. Food is such a social thing. It's inherently part of
00:14:21
Speaker
how, what we do as humans. And so I think that's, it's a really great tool for stuff like that. So you touched on something that I think is really interesting. I would love to kind of go down a path a little bit more because, you know, this intersection wasn't actually anticipating getting to in this interview, but in this conversation is that you kind of touched on accessibility and then also this mindset around like how food fuels your body and your body. And we know that Gen Z is really doing a lot of incredible stuff around promoting diversity and inclusion.
00:14:51
Speaker
So when you think about food and Gen Z's mindset around food and body positivity, what are some messages that you hear with your peers? Because I do think it's really healthy the way that you brought up. Like diet culture, starving yourself has not really been something that is healthy per se. From a Gen Z lens, how do we, you all see food as a component of inclusion or a component of accessibility and the way that it's a part of your peer culture among your friends?
00:15:20
Speaker
So I think the accessibility element is really interesting to me there because we've seen, at least again, it's in LA, we've seen more options for health food, but not at an easier price. Um, and again, this is definitely tinted by the LA mindset, but we've seen a lot more, um, shops that are sort of like fast, casual, but healthy food. So I think sweet greens, a great example of this. They created a massive salad empire.
00:15:46
Speaker
of fast casual salads, which has never been a thing before, right? I mean, when you think of fast food, it's like hamburgers and maybe pizza. It's really great. But when you go there, a salad's like $15, which isn't an accessible price for everyone for one meal. So I think we have a long way to go with the price, but I think we're getting there with giving people more access with the craze of acai bowls and smoothies and everything there. I think that's something that's spreading a lot.
00:16:15
Speaker
As far as the other element of what you were mentioning regarding, I guess, views on food and culture like that, I think it's definitely something that still affects a lot of people in a negative way. Food is great, but only if you have a good relationship with it.
00:16:40
Speaker
But I think there's a lot more support and a lot more public support for those issues now. A lot of the actors and celebrities who have come out with these issues and been honest about them has really helped lend itself to a culture of transparency around food, which I think helps. I mean, again, I can't really speak to this from personal experience. I can speak to it from like secondary experience with friends.
00:17:05
Speaker
I think it helps a lot to sort of shift the culture around this at the macro level with these celebrities and with, I mean, the magazines and tabloids that are still doing really bad things, but at least people are calling him out for it now. I think that can sort of help trickle down to individuals. Absolutely. And I think that that is important. I mean, you brought up the element of transparency around food and diet and body and all of these things that some other social media and bringing it back to our social media conversation,
00:17:35
Speaker
We see these people. We see celebrities out on the beach in their bathing suits, and we're like, why don't I look like that? I need to be on whatever diet they're on. We also forget that they pay money for other procedures, trainers, other components that maybe everyday people don't have access to, nor is that our only definition for what a healthy body is or a healthy diet is. I think of the Met Gala, which
00:18:02
Speaker
Oh, I must've been a few months ago at this point, but I'm still thinking about it with the Marilyn Monroe dress, which was a big discussion because in case you don't know, I believe Kim Kardashian said that she had to go on a really strict diet and didn't eat anything for some crazy amount of days before wearing it and lost like
00:18:22
Speaker
some crazy amount of pounds to fit into the dress, which is like really bad. But the good thing about the story and why I brought it up is that people started calling her out for it. So there were other actresses on social media who took to Instagram and posted and said, this is not okay. This is not the lesson we should be teaching. This is not healthy. And I think that's the good part of the story.
00:18:44
Speaker
she can make her own choices and, you know, care about her body however she wants. But the good thing was that people were calling that out as something that's not reasonable and that normal people shouldn't be expected to do or expected to feel like they have to live up to that. So I think that's the good part about culture and where we are today, where we're calling stuff out like that and recognizing that that's not healthy and that's helping people realize for themselves that that's not healthy either.
00:19:11
Speaker
Yeah, and I think that that's really important because, you know, what you bring up is like both personal choice, like Kim Kardashian, she do whatever she wants, like she, by all means, do that. But there is also an element of when we share about things, we unintentionally have an opportunity or an intentional opportunity to influence other
Gen Z's Dining Preferences
00:19:26
Speaker
people. And not even from like a social media, like influencer perspective of like, people look to people for guidance, it's just like a natural thing we do. And so what we share sends messages whether we want to or not.
00:19:37
Speaker
Um, and it's not like she's out and you're like, everybody starve yourselves. She's like, that's the choice I made, but there is that recognition. Like there has to be that recognition. And as you mentioned that there's a newer culture where we're able to say like, this might not be so healthy. This might not be a choice for everyone to make. And I think that's, uh, something as you point out, we've really pivoted in society to, to be able to delineate the two, uh, because before we'd be like, wow, look at all that work that was done to get into that dress. And that's all we would celebrate.
00:20:04
Speaker
without the other components of voice that we're sharing other perspectives. Let's turn it back to food a little bit because I know that you're in the same camp I am. It's a fun thing to talk about.
00:20:17
Speaker
So you've talked a little bit about what matters to you and your friends when you're going out having a meal or you're hanging out around food. Health is a component of it. Accessibility is a component of it. Price is a component of it. I think many companies are really curious about how to attract Gen Z eaters. And I want to know from your experience,
00:20:40
Speaker
What matters to Gen Z related to the food and dining aspects? What matters to that experience for you and your peers? The first thing would be easy parking. I sort of joke, but also in LA. It's not a joke.
00:20:56
Speaker
Let's see, as far as the food goes, I think we end up getting a variety. I think it's fun just because food is such a social thing. I have like different things that I always get with my friends. So with my running friends, we always get like a bagel or smoothies after practice, which is, you know, super fun in the theme.
00:21:15
Speaker
I have other friends who I always drive to their house and we always walk together. They live super close to a great food street in LA. We get food there. So I think it's, I think that's sort of just interesting to me that I have different almost like favorite restaurants or traditions with each friend. And I think it shows that it's not like a one size fits all thing for like, oh, like, well, this is a favorite restaurant for everyone in LA. We all have different meals that we like. I think,
00:21:43
Speaker
I think that we tend to gravitate towards a little bit more of the casual restaurants. I don't really go into fancy meals and sit down with my friends often. I do that with my parents and my family sometimes, but not really with friends. Sort of a price thing because it's not worth it to us to spend money on meals like that. And also just the culture thing. It's more fun for us to sit outside in a tent under a parking lot, whatever that restaurant set up for COVID.
00:22:10
Speaker
and just be loud and hang out because trying to make that food even more social, just using it as the canvas for conversation as opposed to strictly appreciating the food itself. So the food is always great. Yeah, I feel like next time I'm in Manila, I'm gonna give you coffee. We're gonna go eat. Where are we going? You choose. But when you think about- We'll check out the recon food map. There, you built it for me. You built it for me, silly.
00:22:39
Speaker
So, thinking about just some preferences that Gen Z might hold, we've looked at, in our research, just different components of diet. We know that there's more awareness of various types of diet, but there's also more awareness of diversity of food. How would you, if at all, give some insight on Gen Z's perspective on
00:23:02
Speaker
dietary preferences, but then also exploration of different cultural types of food or diverse types of food. I know you're in LA. I miss living in Southern California solely for the fact of if you can dream it, there's probably a restaurant that does it. So tell me a little bit more about that. So to touch on food restrictions, I think the most interesting thing about that to me is how accessible they're coming access-wise.
00:23:29
Speaker
I look at Starbucks. The Starbucks that I go to here has every type of milk imaginable, which is kind of crazy and not something that I saw coming, honestly. Same with grocery stores. I mean, there are shelves of shelves of all of the alternative milks that you could possibly imagine. So I think that a lot of restaurants are becoming more accommodating of that type of thing. Some restaurants are becoming completely accommodative of that type of thing. My friend and I were looking at a restaurant the other day to go to, which was a taco restaurant.
00:23:58
Speaker
And as we were poking around on the Google maps on the website, we noticed that it was entirely vegan and like that was not apparent at all. We haven't tried it yet, but I think we're going to sometime, um, but like entirely vegan restaurants. That's something that's totally new. At least it's a new thing that I've seen. And then for food diversity, that's huge. I mean, I think I've, I've tried a lot of different types of food and I've enjoyed them all. Um, I think that there's a lot more.
00:24:27
Speaker
diversity of options, even in these like large central areas. And this is definitely something that I don't think has touched the majority of the country, but fortunate enough to live in LA.
Challenges in Building Recon Food
00:24:38
Speaker
And here in LA, there are, well, there are still different neighborhoods that have like one type of food that's most prevalent. There's a lot more of all of the types of foods like I can go to Santa Monica. And if I walk around Santa Monica, I could probably find like, at least 10 different types of food within the same block. It's I've been to literally like
00:24:57
Speaker
sort of like a mini shopping mall, like a mini food court that has like four different restaurants, all with different nationalities of food. And I tried like one from everything and it was all great. So I think that diverse food has become more like easier to access. And I think that's led to a lot of it becoming more mainstream too. Like looking at Boba, which has taken the world by storm, at least in Los Angeles, but I think a lot of places,
00:25:25
Speaker
It's become so popular, it's at like our major shopping malls and I see a long line every time. And I think that's so cool because you see food becoming a universal thing as it should be and as it is becoming really popular everywhere. And again, that's like a super social type of food. But it's so great to see that spreading just like a Starbucks would.
00:25:48
Speaker
Absolutely. I can tell you, and I don't want to age myself, but when I went to school in Southern California, we had to drive to another city entirely to get Boba, uh, because there's only a few places at the time.
00:25:58
Speaker
And so we had to go to a different city entirely. It was like a 25 minute, it's not that long, but when you're in college, you're like 25 minute drive, are you kidding me? And it was, it was like we got in the car, it was a mini road trip, we got boba, now it's everywhere. And you're right, that is great. It's clearly something people enjoy, people can bond over, and people can really love. So we've got a few more questions for you. Let's turn it back to your time. Thinking about being an entrepreneur, launching an app, what has been one or two of your biggest lessons you've learned?
00:26:27
Speaker
so far in entrepreneurship and launching an app. I think the biggest lesson that I've learned has just been about how much hard work it takes. We've managed to create a really, really great app, at least in my opinion, obviously. We've built all the features that we wanted to. It's gone really well. But now we're at sort of the bottom of that hockey stick curve of trying to get people on the app. And everyone who uses it loves it.
00:26:52
Speaker
It's become such a great community. People are so happy with what we've created.
Gen Z Tackling Societal Issues
00:26:56
Speaker
Just trying to spread that name and that's been a lot harder than at least I expected honestly. I sort of thought, I guess in my mind I had the like exponential career idea of oh well if we had one person on the app they'll invite two people and those two people invite two people each and then we'll have
00:27:12
Speaker
five people and then they'll all invite two people so i thought it'd be a little easier just getting people to invite their friends it's a roadblock we've actually faced because people don't want to invite their friends because of the community we've created they feel like it's more genuine getting comments and likes from random strangers they don't know than it would be from their friends so they won't invite their friends to the app um but that's something that we're trying to work around so just um
00:27:39
Speaker
It's the chicken and the egg problem of creating a social media app, which is we can't get influencers on the app until we have people on the app and we can't get people on the, or it's easier to bring people to the app with big name influencers. But also at the end of the day, the app isn't really built for these big name influencers.
00:27:58
Speaker
It's a different social product to try to sell to people because it's not follow this one incredible chef on Instagram. It's be part of this community and build each other up and try new recipes and see what people are cooking. But the food doesn't look amazing. It looks pretty average. So it's a much more supportive and fun community to be a part of. But from the outside, it's not as appealing as the perfect food on Instagram because Instagram's food always looks perfect.
00:28:27
Speaker
our food always looks true. That is such a deep thing to have identified. And I think that I want to just give you encouragement to stick with it, because I think that what you're doing is so important. And the people that mean something to it means probably a lot to them. And bringing it back to what it stands for, what it is intended to do, and the purpose it serves for people, it is important to those people. And I know I'm going to download it. I'm going to get on it. I'm going to make my husband get on it. And I'm going to make my two chef friends get on it.
00:28:56
Speaker
And you're going to have four new people on there because we just love to eat. And I will encourage, especially my chef friends, they're really down to earth people. And if they're listening, they're probably like just giggling right now because they are very similar to you, just like loving food and what it means. They love to cook and they love to share their food, but they can only cook so much food at one time. So why not be able to share it with people?
00:29:18
Speaker
in an internet space. So I'm confident that this app is going to continue to grow and do really good things. I'll certainly be able to promote it and want to make sure that I'm supporting your success in that. I asked this of every one of my guests, and it wasn't on the question list. I apologize, but it shouldn't be a surprise. I always ask my guests, when you think about your Gen Z peers, even just from a general sense, what is your favorite thing about Generation Z? I need a second.
00:29:47
Speaker
I have the, um, I can explain it, but I can't think of a single word. I like how willing to take action we are. I think that in this generation, when we see a problem, we attack it. And yeah, that applies to entrepreneurship and like, yeah, that's what entrepreneurs have to be like, but I'm not talking about entrepreneurs. I'm talking about everyone. When we face an issue as a society,
00:30:12
Speaker
we jump in headfirst because it's our generation that has to fix it, whether that is protesting for climate change, gun violence, racial injustice, you name it, it's happened, female rights. So I think that's been great. So on the political side, yes. On the business entrepreneurship side, yes. But even just in everyday life, I think we don't back down from a challenge and we're willing to take on any fight.
00:30:36
Speaker
And I think that's something I see in a lot of people and it's a very generational thing. I think that's part of what makes life so stressful because when you see a problem, you're like, I have to fix that, but it's a Monday morning and I don't really feel like that today.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:30:49
Speaker
So it makes life pretty stressful to go through it trying to like seeing problems and being like, I have to solve that or my generation has to solve that. But I think that's the mindset that we hold and I think that's really powerful.
00:31:04
Speaker
I agree. I think that y'all are a very tenacious bunch, but you have high levels of responsibility for other people. And I think that that's a really, I like hardworking, responsible people. So it's pretty easy to be a fan of Gen Z. Well, Sophia, I've had such a lovely time learning from you, connecting with you.
00:31:19
Speaker
and sharing our love for food. But if people wanted to follow along with your work, where is the best place for people to connect with you or follow along? I know you might be on different social media platforms or really direct people, where's the best place to follow along with your journey?
00:31:35
Speaker
If you're interested in following me, you can find me on Instagram or Twitter at sophiaraskov. And if you're interested in downloading recon food, you can do that in the iOS app store now and hopefully within the next few months in the Android app store, I'll keep you posted on Instagram. Wonderful.
00:31:50
Speaker
Well, Sophia, thank you again for being here. It has been an absolute delight to be able to connect with you and learn from you. Thank you so much for having me. I want to thank Sophia for joining me in this episode. Chatting about food is always a fun time, but doing so through the intersection of culture and creating positive social media environments is such an important conversation to have. We create connection over shared meals and through food. So food truly is an important part of culture. What we choose to eat is an expression of who we are and with whom we share our meals is a celebration of culture.
00:32:19
Speaker
This episode echoed what matters to Gen Z when it comes to food and how their food choices and preferences are a way we can learn more about their generational culture. Be sure to follow Sofia on Instagram at Sofia Raskov and go download Recon Food from the app store. I already have downloaded the app and it's a great community of food fans and professional snackers. I'll be sure to include this information in the show notes so that you have links.
00:32:44
Speaker
Before we wrap up this episode, I have some very exciting news to share. If you've been following along with my work with Corey, you likely know that we share our work under the name the GenZ Hub.
00:32:55
Speaker
This has been our home for our research and resources that we provide for Gen Z for a few years now, but now we've actually established an official nonprofit that will be the home for our generational research. Established earlier this year, the Institute for Generational Research has a mission to foster understanding, appreciation, and collaboration between generations.
00:33:15
Speaker
So the Gen Z Hub is now the Institute for Generational Research and Education, which will provide research and knowledge dissemination about generational characteristics, trends, behaviors, and outlooks as they impact intergenerational engagement. This does not mean that we're down with Generation Z. I want to be clear about that.
00:33:34
Speaker
Without our adventure in Generation Z, we would not have gotten to this point. Gen Z has always and will always be an important part of how we understand and learn about generations. We're just preparing to expand our work in our generational studies, but please know that Gen Z will always be a priority for us as we work to foster greater understanding and harmony between generations.
00:33:56
Speaker
You can learn more about our work and check out our new website, Institute4Gens.org. That is Institute4Gens.org. And thank you for tuning into this episode. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. This not only helps me improve the podcast, but it helps others find the show.
00:34:17
Speaker
Stay tuned as more episodes are on the way. We'll continue to explore culture in Generation Z with some fantastic guests. However, if there's something you wanna learn more about, I'll happily make that happen. If you have something you wanna share or a topic you'd like me to explore, please reach out via my website, meganmgrace.com or on social media. Thank you again for stopping by for this episode. Let's continue this conversation and we'll chat soon.