Gen Z: Lunchtime, finally! Gonna nip to Farmer J.
Boomer: Who on earth is Farmer J? A new Emmerdale character?
Only the GOAT* of salad spots. There is a half-hour-long queue outside its Regent Street store every day.
Thirty minutes? Just toss some lettuce, tomato and cucumber together at home and stick it in a lunchbox.
That’s tragic. I’m getting a Fieldtray with kale-miso slaw, spiced date sweet potato and green tahini chicken.
Kale-miso slaw sounds like a celebrity baby name.
*Groans*
Anyway, how much will that set you back?
About £12.50.
Twelve-pounds fifty? For glorified rabbit food?
Tray chic: Gen Z loves Farmer J’s £12.50 Fieldtrays
It’s not rabbit food! It’s nutrient-dense, yummy and shows everyone in the office I’m #fibremaxxing.
I’m more worried about your #creditcardmaxxing.
ICYMI*, The Times says bougie lunches are Gen Z’s favourite ‘workday treat’.
When I was your age, my ‘workday treat’ was a homemade plain cheese sandwich. It’d take 30 minutes to pick off the clingfilm.
Such an ick. Besides, the article says Gen Zs are happy to spend £10+ on lunch for a ‘dopamine bump’ given that ‘traditional financial rites’ like homeowning aren’t possible.
It’s no surprise homeowning isn’t possible. You’re spending your deposit on something Popeye would order from Deliveroo.
At least it’s not ultra-processed like your go-to meal deal.
What’s wrong with a meal deal? Less than four quid for a BLT sarnie, Diet Coke and pack of Monster Munch. Bargain!
SMH*. Don’t you care about your gut microbiome? Your inflammation levels? Your cardiovascular health?
Forget ‘cardiovascular health’. I’d have a heart attack on the spot if my lunch scanned through at 15 quid.
You don’t understand. There are more than 1.1 million TikToks of office workers revealing the best #corporateslop.
Corporate slop? Sounds delicious.
Supermarket sweep: Boomers prefer a £4 meal deal
It is. Business Insider says Gen Z loves a thrown-together bowl of ‘sloppy veg’ from Chipotle and The Salad Project because we want ‘more customisable’ lunches.
Here’s an idea: customise a sandwich at home.
Laugh all you want, but The Salad Project sells 4,000 of its £10+ bowls every day in London alone.
Good to know the capital’s economy is being propped up by quinoa.
Legit. An EzCater survey found 67 per cent of Gen Zs spend at least £8 on lunch during the working week, and 43 per cent do so on three to five days.
That’s £40 a week! What happened to bringing in leftovers in Tupperware?
So yuck. There’s a whole Reddit thread about Boomers heating up manky-smelling meals in the office microwave.
I won’t apologise for being economical.
Besides, the company Tupperware filed for bankruptcy in 2024. The Standard called it a ‘relic of the Boomer generation’ that Gen Z doesn’t want or need.
Blasphemy! It’s a godsend for freezing lunch portions of my famous chilli.
Probs why it’s orange-stained and stinky. Isn’t it depressing eating the same thing for days on end?
I break it up with the occasional meal deal. And, of course, treat-day Friday, when I get £3.50 fish and chips from the office canteen.
Queuing for beige food on beige plates under fluorescent lights? It’s giving school dinner.
It’s ‘giving’ hot, delicious, filling and subsidised, actually.
But is your dish hand-massaged?
Is that some kind of euphemism?
Ew, no. Pret’s new £12.50 Super Plate salads are made with hand-massaged kale. Staff rub each piece in French dressing for 45 seconds.
Massaging leaves?! What’s next, giving tomatoes a spa day?
You’re being ridiculous.
Says the one paying £15 for self-proclaimed ‘slop’. Talk about leafing a bad taste.
*Rolls eyes* Let me guess, it’s a raw deal?
Impossible to stomach.
*GOAT = greatest of all time.
ICYMI = in case you missed it.
SMH = shaking my head
