short story I read in grade school in the mid 1970s - scientifically curious boy reads the ingredient list on his breakfast cereal box,
Trying to track down a short story that I read in grade school in the mid 1970s -probably written in the late 60s-early 70s - might be considered YA lit today.
* A scientifically curious boy reads the ingredient list on his breakfast cereal box and then discovers that the ingredient is in all food products except those food that are organic, those who eat organic are suspect as being non-conformist.
* The boy investigates the substance in a Library and finds out that it was used in population control experiments following rioting and social unrest by the Government in the past and is a banned substance. At home he has been allowed to have some lab rats (considered a "clean" animal) and he begins experimenting with feeding the rats some of the common foods found in the house. -When he goes back to the Library he finds that all references to the substance are gone both books and from the computer database. 1012
At home his experiment with the rats has led to the ones that were fed food becoming very docile. He also goes to the store and discovers that the substance no longer appears in the ingredients list. He begs his father to get him food from the organic market which he does despite his fears of being labeled as a non-conformist by the authorities
-- That night while watching a broadcast TV special that is about a boy who resembles him greatly who becomes more and more non-conformist and questioning of the authorities except the character is exaggerated - he has a horse that he experiments on instead of rats and attack the food market and librarian - eventually the TV character runs to the roof of the tower he lives in and throws himself off as doctors and the police and his parents try to save him.
He tries to tell people about the substance in the food and is chased by the police and the tenants of the tower to the top of the tower he lives in and is forced off the edge by the mob.
The population live in towers and go back and forth through underground tunnels - The world outside is pristine groomed parkland-The outside is considered "unsanitary" The boy also finds out that there are doors that open on the ground level to the outside. He begins traveling back and forth on the surface despite the protests of his mother about it being unsanitary "out there" - This alone draws people to first consider him deviant. 25