"I never used to think about my meals or what I was eating," he said. "I knew I had to make changes."
Gordon is typical of other baby boomers who are getting their act together when it comes to what they eat. They are taking their health into their own hands and changing the American foodscape along the way.
Born between the years 1946 and 1964, boomers have driven some of the most powerful cultural shifts in our nation's history, and that includes food, said Michelle Barry, an analyst with the Hartman Group, a market research firm in Bellevue, Wash.
This huge demographic is behind a majority of today's food trends - everything from nutritionally enhanced foods and functional beverages to fresh local produce and artisanal foods.
"This generation is redefining what it means to have quality food," Barry said. And, she added, they're investing the time to become more knowledgeable about food.
Aging boomers approach food with a sense of optimism and hope, viewing it as a way they can help control their future, she said.
Nearly 80 million strong, this generation may have grown up on meatloaf, mashed potatoes and tuna casserole, but now they're seeking foods that can help them stay young, or at least feel young.
Boomers have traded in their Tang for orange juice fortified with ingredients that can lower their cholesterol. They've ditched their beloved Pop-Tarts for high-fiber flaxseed cereal and said goodbye to Tab for acai berry smoothies and green tea.
"The Boomers, [now between the ages of 42 and 62, more or less] do not view themselves as 'old' like their parents tended to at this age," said Matt Thornhill, president of The Boomer Project, which collects marketing data on boomers.
