Revised: Foodies of Society

What exactly is a foodie? Upon just saying or hearing the word, many people would assume that it is a person who really enjoys food. However, this broad definition includes most if not all people in the world. To narrow down the true meaning of a foodie, one simply needs to look in a dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “a person with a particular interest in food; a gourmet.” Two crucial words that give this definition its meaning are “particular” and “gourmet”. Particular, as defined by the Oxford English dictionary, means “distinguished in some way among others of the same kind; not ordinary; worthy of notice, remarkable; special.” Gourmet is “a connoisseur in the delicacies of the table.” But what is the purpose of these definitions? The reason is, that in order to fully understand what affect someone’s socioeconomic status has on being a “foodie,” one must comprehend the definition true of a “foodie.”

The key word “particular” has a specific importance because all people have some sort of interest in food. Whether it is simply for survival, providing for a family or for sheer pleasure everyone realizes food has a vital role in life and therefore is interested in it. The word particular is defined by words such as “remarkable” and “special”, so by adding this single word in front of interest the definition of foodie is narrowed down significantly. Since eating solely to survive does nothing to distinguish people from any other living organism, the homeless and the poor person are excluded from being foodies. While the homeless and poor probably have a greater appreciation for food, eating for survival is neither remarkable nor special when view on a broad scale. The word particular also excludes all people who do not go to great lengths or spend large quantities of money in order to get high quality food. A majority middle class and working class people are preoccupied with the demands of everyday life such as raising families working, running errands, miscellaneous other everyday tasks. There for being a foodie also rules out middle class families and most other working class people due to a lack of time, and the lack of money to devote to high quality food that being a foodie requires.

So by definition a foodie can only be an upper class person, due purely to cost and time. However, the definition of a foodie contains another key word, gourmet, which further limits who is a foodie. A gourmet is not just someone who can afford and loves good food but also someone who has experience in eating and critiquing fine cuisine. This involves eating at the finest restaurants one can find, critiquing the best chefs, being well educated on all types of cuisine, and even cooking at home using the highest quality ingredients. A foodie is not something one can become over night. One must have an obsession with food to become a foodie because it takes vast amounts of time solely devoted to food. This obsession accompanied with wealth is the only recipe for being a foodie.

Some dispute the fact that being a foodie is only a status that only wealthy people can attain, and argue that fine cuisine is a term relative to ones economic status, and therefore anyone could be a foodie. However, it is undeniable that all food is not created equal. Take for example the homeless man in Ruth Reichl’s Garlic & Sapphires. When Ruth gave him the left over duck from La Cote Basque restaurant he did not devour it immediately like one might expect, but rather he treated the situation specially and consumed the succulent duck with class and dignity. If given a hamburger this man would have inhaled it in a matter of seconds, but he realized that the duck was of something special, something that was of better quality than he could ever dream of affording. A poor man recognized that there definitely different qualities of food, and by this proves that the perceived quality of food does not depend on your socio-economic status. People that cannot afford high quality food know that there is better, likewise people who can afford great cooking know that there is worse. So the argument that excellent cuisine is a relative term is false.

Still, others might argue that the foodie culture is becoming part of the middle class with the increasing popularity of cookbooks, restaurant reviews, and cooking shows. It is clear from the definition that a foodie must be someone of high socioeconomic status due to the expensive and time consuming nature of the hobby. However, in every day jargon the term is used very loosely. In its most common usage a foodie is anyone that enjoys consuming, cooking, or studying food. From this definition there are no restrictions on who can be a foodie, as long as one is willing to put forth the time and has significant interest in food. One does not have to be a wealthy upper-class person who can afford the finest restaurants and the finest ingredients; it can be nearly anyone. However, one still needs some money to buy good quality ingredients and the literature associated with foodie culture (cook books, cooking magazines, etc), but it is not impossible for a person with a low socioeconomic status to become a foodie. While it is true that more people are buying into the cooking society, these people are not truly foodies. Calling a person a foodie when they watch Food Network, read the New York Time restaurant reviews, and own a few cook books would be like calling middle class man an entrepreneur when he reads the Business Week, follows the stock market, and watches The Apprentice. It just is not the same thing to have an interest in food or business and actually obtaining the high status of an entrepreneur or a foodie.

This misconception on who can be a foodie is largely derived from T.V. Television has helped perpetuate the idea that anyone can be a foodie no matter how rich or how poor that person may be. But who can blame them? Television revolves around making money, and the more people they can help become so called foodies the more money they make. Hit shows like Rachael Ray, Iron Chef America, Hell’s Kitchen, and Good Eats actually provide very little insight to the culinary world and make being a real foodie seem easy. There are two different types of shows that are on the Food Network. There are those that display professional chefs cooking so that you, the viewer, can learn from the best, and then there are those that try to directly teach you how to cook. The shows that display the top chefs in today’s society like Iron Chef America and Hell’s Kitchen are merely for entertainment. They make the viewer falsely feel some understanding of food and its preparation. These shows provide very little information about the various uses of the food being cooked and they provide little to no directions on how they are preparing it. While it might be entertaining to see the head chef yelling at everyone else, one can learn very little from this type of program. The other shows like Rachael Ray and Good Eats try to teach the viewer directly how to cook. Rachael Ray, for example, demonstrates how to create a great meal in only thirty minutes. The show does a good job of showing the actual process of cooking, but it is not a gourmet meal worthy of foodie status. Overall the Food Network does an excellent job of creating a false foodie culture with no actual substance behind the façade.

Cookbooks, on the other hand, are much more productive than television in providing the basic steps to becoming a foodie. Learning to cook creates a spark of interest in food which is the basis for becoming a foodie. While most cook books do not have recipes containing five star meals, they provide actual insight to the world of cooking, unlike TV. This interest and knowledge of cooking and food in common ground for all foodies. Without a peculiar interest in food, a rich man eating at a five star restaurant is simply that. He is not a foodie any means because his only interest is in the reputation of the restaurant not the quality, preparation, or general information about the cuisine. Cookbooks help create an interest in all things food related, and they do so with some actual knowledge and substance behind it. However, the interest they provide alone cannot make one a foodie.

The foodie culture has been misconstrued into something that it is not. A foodie is by definition a person that has a unique insight on the world of high quality cuisine, but the media has tried to transform the meaning to accommodate people’s desires of grandeur. A true foodie must be someone who has a genuine interest in food, has the funds for the highest quality ingredients, and can afford the most well renowned restaurants. A foodie must not only be in the upper class, but also have the sufficient time to attribute to enjoying and critiquing food. The combination of obsession with food and a certain wealth is what makes a foodie a foodie.