Modern, Moral Capitalism

Only 42 percent of Zoomers, those born between 1997 and 2012, support Capitalism.

If your eyebrows are arched, mine were, too. But author John Della Volpe, who first told me this, went on to say that it isn’t that Zoomers oppose capitalism, rather that they oppose it the way it is now. They are tired of the winner-take-all form of capitalism that has brought America great wealth – yes – but also great income inequality and a raft of unsolved social problems from a polluted planet to hunger and undernutrition.

In his book “Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America ,” he explains that the generation first started thinking about capitalism as the “Occupy Wall Street” movement unfolded and exposed the divide between the haves and have-nots.

We are living in an inequitable food system where some families have access to beautiful, fresh, good food that promotes health, while others simply do not.

As someone who has worked with the private sector for decades to improve food and address hunger and undernutrition, I see a new opportunity to harness this yearning for a modern, moral capitalism, to engage food entrepreneurs, retailers, manufacturers and others who help make up the food supply to help build Food Equity, the idea that all families, in every part of the country, deserve access to good food..

They can do this by:

1. Ensuring their own employees – from the lowest paid to the highest – have access to good food.
2. Numeric listBuilding knowledge and understanding of the importance of food equity among their employee base.
3. Becoming knowledgeable about food access in and around where employees work and live.

Only when all people have consistent and affordable access to high-quality, nutrient dense food will we be able to end hunger and undernutrition and its companion problems. The time for the private sector to act is now as energy is building for a more modern and moral capitalism.