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In defense of ‘foodie’
If you want to insult someone who likes to eat, just call them a foodie.
As Americans have grown more aware and interested in food in the past decade, a scornful attitude has developed toward the name most frequently used to describe them.
In a post yesterday, my friend Katharine Shilcutt over at the Houston Press spoke pretty loud and clear on behalf of the anti-foodie movement: “Foodies are just in it for the big show: to talk up their meals, to rub elbows with chefs, to write nonsensical ‘reviews’ on Yelp and to scrabble together some bizarre version of popularity out of the whole shebang.”
Shilcutt, who prefers to call herself a food nerd, points us a piece by Jason Sheehan for Seattle Weekly in which he calls foodies:
Those coup-counting, lock-jawed, cake-eating, nose-in-the-air dimwits who, with sticks planted firmly in their flabby asses will make their weekly cruise out to the hottest addresses in town, get weak little culinary boners over year-dead trends, focused-grouped Frog-humping menus and anyone doing New American comfort food or French-Asian fusion in million-dollar spaces; who will swoon after “discovering” restaurants with 200 Yelp reviews, dismiss cheeseburgers and chicken-fried steak and sloppy tacos and Americanized Chinese food as beneath their notice, but go fucking bonkers for any restaurant that name-checks a farm on its menu.
If you scroll through the comments on both posts, you’ll find a quite a bit of backlash against their tirades on people who are just a little too obsessed with food. The running theme: Are not Twitter-obsessed food bloggers, including Sheehan and Shilcutt, the tastemakers at the heart of this food-crazed movement they claim to despise?
Food is important, interesting and worth getting excited about. It’s also intimate, polemic and worth arguing about. Names, labels and lines drawn in the sand just get in the way of a healthy discussion.
If you’re reading this blog, it’s because you enjoy eating food and possibly even cooking it, too. You might think it’s interesting that a store dedicated to Pop Tarts just opened in New York City or that there’s a new farmers market open on Burnet Road selling local produce five days a week. You, too, might make the occasional grilled cheese sandwich and want to get tips on how to make them better from a professional. You’ve probably heard of this Rachael Ray person and might get a chuckle at seeing her face made out of Cheetos.
You might or might not take a picture of that sexy slice of pizza you just bought at Homeslice and tweet it to your friends. Maybe you’re the kind of hungry Austinite who likes to be the first among your friends to try a new place and then tell everyone what the experience was like on Yelp. Maybe you even love food enough to, gasp, spend your evenings blogging about it instead of — or perhaps in addition to — watching “The Bachelorette.” (See blogroll at left.)
You might just be one of those dirty “foodies” everyone keeps bashing.
I’ve had some pretty interesting discussions with food-loving friends of mine about whether or not they define themselves as foodies, and the general consensus seems to be that the negative connotations that the word carries outweighs the benefits of having a universally understood word to describe people who are enthusiastic about food.
I’ve never had a problem with the word foodie. To me, it’s just a generalized term to describe someone like me who thinks/reads/cares/writes/tweets about food more than the average person. Sure, “foodies” in the past few years have taken this love of food a few steps too far to over-hype perfectly valid food trends (see: trailers, cupcakes, bacon, ramps) and to create cult-like obsession with high-end chefs and food glitterati, but what sub-culture in America doesn’t have its share of crazed fans who embarrass the rest of them?
It’s the difference between a fan and a fanatic. Imagine your run-of-the-mill Longhorn football fan and the sad schmuck guy who sobbed for three weeks after the team lost the national championship to Alabama and who, one of these days, will go into cardiac arrest after a bad call. It’s the difference between a fashionista who likes to flip through the September issue of Vogue and one who rings up $10,000 on a credit card at Neiman’s the day after it comes out.
Food — and the growing number of people who pay attention to where it comes from, how to cook it and where is the best restaurant eat it — just happens to be getting a lot of attention these days. Good for us for finally caring about something as important to our lives as what we eat three times a day, but do we really have to spend a lot of energy attacking the people who take it too far? Won’t they burn themselves out eventually?
It doesn’t matter what you call them/us. Until I find a better word, I’ll keep using “foodie” in a non-pejorative way (I’ve run out of ideas for alternatives: Food enthusiast? Gastronaut? Gourmand? Food lover? Food geek? What do you call yourself?) and continue exploring the complex, beautiful and ever-growing food world.
I’ll keep reading the hilarious blog Shut Up, Foodies! for a healthy criticism of the industry I write about and contribute to, but I won’t turn on my own kind.
Photos by ldanderson and silvertje via Flickr.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment Categories: Chewing the fat
Comments
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By HTownChowDown
August 10, 2010 4:24 PM | Link to this
Wonderful post. The whole foodie backlash thing isn’t surprising - much of what has been written is extremely accurate in many cases.
But honestly, these food snobs aren’t the types of foodies that are the most interesting to read. Most of us don’t eat at high-dollar restaurants several times a week. And while I expect a superlative experience from a $100 meal, how fantastic is it when you have a truly memorable meal and get change back from a $10 bill?
So for me, much more interesting are those writers who simply get joy from great food, be it haute cuisine, central Texas BBQ, or a great burger, and take the time to share it with their audience.
By Evelyn
August 10, 2010 4:45 PM | Link to this
I’ll gladly admit that I’m a foodie. To me the word conjures ideas of food-loving, try-anything-once people with well-traveled tongues and an appreciation for the $1 taco as well as the 30-course dinner.
As a new Austinite, I don’t think there are enough foodies in this city to be honest. Go out there, appreciate all kinds of food, eat something new and adventurous, try different restaurants, buy local/ in season, and share the food love! To me, there’s not much better than that.
Thanks for this post, Addie. Be proud, Austin foodies!
By Analog Girl
August 10, 2010 6:32 PM | Link to this
It’s amusing that there is such vehemently negative opinion about people who love food, yet no-one blinks an eye at football fanatics, tailgating, and other such cultural obsessions. I don’t really care if someone wants to mock me because instead of closets full of shoes or fashionable clothes, or jewelry, or the latest phone, etc, I choose to adventure in others’ kitchens. I’ve loved tastes since childhood and make no excuses. Your last statement is the most admirable. Hopefully your Houston buddy can learn from it, and see how insulting she has been to herself and so many people who consider her a friend or worthy commentator.
By Edric
August 10, 2010 9:10 PM | Link to this
It’s no coincidence that food has become an item of fashion and gets more time in the news than ever before, at the time when this country has gotten soft, lazy, and decadent. People who are busy doing things that matter think of food as something they need, not something to match with their clothes. If it tastes good that’s a bonus but they don’t waste their time swooning over new and exciting ways of combining dormouse testicles and deep fried caviar. Only people whose existence is empty and vapid become the narcissistic self-absorbed food worshippers who make the word “foodie” an epithet. And yes, Analog Girl, people with sense and a sense of proportion do mock and despise the knuckle-dragging specimens you find near football games. A person who is worth something will mock and despise fanatics and fools of every stripe.
By Optimista
August 12, 2010 1:08 AM | Link to this
As evidenced by the fact that I used the word “foodie” in my blog name, I hardly have a negative connotation with the label. I’m glad I’m not the only one! As far as I’m concerned, it’s not the label that a person chooses for themselves that determines whether that person is obnoxious or interesting, and I’m having a hard time understanding anyone who believes otherwise.
By LA
August 20, 2010 10:44 PM | Link to this
We have always been foodies, food nerds.. whatever means, we love food and appreciate well prepared food of any sort. We also love cooking and feeding our friends and loved ones.
Our daughter and I call the photos we take of food, “Food Porn” Her friends all share their “Food Porn” all of the time too..
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