Millennials have started a lot of trends in society, some of which are good and some that are bad. Good trends include caring for the environment, and bad trends include an overload of avocado on toast. Here are 18 trends millennials should never have started.
Over-the-Top Milkshakes
Also known as “freak shakes,” these milkshakes are full to the brim with different textures and flavors, which can make them difficult to consume. For example, Hamilton Beach writes, “Plain chocolate or vanilla? So passé. We’d like a milkshake garnished with cookie crumbs, hot fudge, rainbow sprinkles, an entire brownie, and one perfectly toasted marshmallow, please.”
Unicorn Food
This trend uses an excessive amount of artificial food colorings, which aren’t going to be good for anyone. It overshadows natural and authentic culinary experiences that are much healthier options. Unicorn foods lack substance and culinary value and should be kept out of anything food-related.
Avocado Toast Overload
Thanks to millennials, there’s been an oversaturation of this in restaurants and on social media. It’s become normal to see a plate of avocado on a person’s feed. It overshadows the diversity of breakfast options, as there’s so much more a person can choose from other than avocado. It limits culinary creativity and variety.
Extreme Spice Challenges
This trend can have a negative impact on health. Some brands have even released products, especially for these challenges. This is supported by AP News, which tells us these products were created especially for spice challenges and internet fame. The spice challenge prioritizes thrills over enjoyable eating habits.
Exotic Superfoods as Cure-Alls
There’s recently been an over-emphasis on foods having miraculous health benefits. This originated with millennials on social media, causing it to rise in popularity. However, this isn’t as great as it sounds. It can mean people don’t eat a balanced diet, which will only lead to health and digestive issues.
Excessive Foam and Smoke in Food
Millennials have created a trend where there’s more of a focus on dramatic food presentation than the actual flavor. This trend would have started with millennials wanting to show off their food on social media. Things like excessive foam or smoke can take away the natural flavorings and textures of foods.
Deconstructed Dishes
Millennials prefer the artistic presentation of food rather than having it easily accessible on their plate. It’s another trend that originated purely on social media as a way to show off their fancy foods. Deconstructed dishes can sacrifice the balance and integrity of a dish, taking away the pleasure of dining.
Oversized Food Portions
This unnecessary trend results in food waste and overeating, which can lead to health issues. This is supported by Healthline, which writes, “Eating past fullness can cause you to consume more energy – which is measured by calories – and nutrients than your body needs. Over time, this habit can cause unwanted weight gain.”
Instagrammable Cafés with Limited Menus
Millennials prefer going to Instagrammable cafes, as they would rather be somewhere with nice aesthetics than a place with great food. These restaurants are often seen as gimmicky, with a lack of variation. It means people forget about the excitement of a diverse menu, where a person can actually order something they’ll enjoy.
Food Mashups Gone Too Far
Food mashups can complicate flavors and make foods so hectic that they don’t become enjoyable. Popular dishes start to lose their essence and are often disregarded. It can also be much more costly to create food mashups all the time, as you have to buy so many different ingredients.
Exaggerated Minimalism
Exaggerated minimalism strips things of their excitement and leaves little for color or imagination. For example, Stephan Joppich writes, “I know too well that if I decluttered my furniture and wardrobe to the bare bones, it would make me miserable.” Exaggerated minimalism can come in many forms, such as fashion, décor, and food.
Complex Garnishes
Overly intricate garnishes can overshadow the main dish. For some, this can create confusion over what’s the main focus of a culinary dish, distracting them from their overall dining experience. There should be a balance between garnishing food for aesthetics and not taking the attraction away from the actual food.
Boutique Studio Gyms
More and more millennials are choosing to sign up at boutique gyms instead of their local gym. It can cause overcrowding in peaceful workout areas. Millennials like to show off their fitness, especially on social media with gym selfies, which only prevents them from exercising and takes away the whole point of going to a gym.
Student Loan Debt
Bankrate writes, “According to a recent study by TransUnion the average student loan borrower has an outstanding balance of roughly $35,000.” Many millennials are burdened by a significant amount of student debt. Not being able to shift this can have a huge impact later in life when they need to purchase a home.
Reluctance to Buy Homes
Millennials have much lower homeownership rates compared to other generations. They’re faced with many affordability issues as house prices have skyrocketed. There have been emerging trends such as shared house ownership, which makes owning a home more affordable, but you still don’t have the luxury of solely owning a home.
Texting Instead of Calling
Millennials have a preference for digital modes of communication rather than picking up the phone and giving someone a call. It puts a limit on personal interactions and can make people seem insincere. It’s also hard to gather the tone from someone over a text, leading to miscommunications.
Investing in Pet Wellness
Millennials have started caring about the wellness of their pets more than they care about themselves. For example, Pure Wow writes, “The pet wellness movement, which includes supplements, nutritional foods and functional medicine, is making waves among millennial dog and cat parents.” While taking care of a pet is important, booking it in for acupuncture is not.
Job Hopping
Millennials have started to job-hop more than ever, and this can cause a lack of stability. It isn’t always a great choice when it comes to looking at things in the long term. For example, it can make it harder to purchase a home or rent somewhere if it’s clear that a person can’t stick to a job.
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