Foodie is a term that has seen increasingly widespread use over the past decade or two. It seems to be a rather childish term: comical and simplistic. That is, in fact, how it was coined. The word was first published in Paul Levy and Ann Barr’s The Official Foodie Handbook. The book was written in a satirical style, and so it is no surprise that the word derived from it has a comical side. Levy defines a foodie as “a person who is very very interested in food. Foodies are the ones interested in food in any gathering - salivating over restaurants, recipes and radicchio” (Newton). This definition implies that anyone who is simply interested in food can be called a foodie. While this idea clearly works in principle, it is blatantly incorrect in practice. Simply having the desire to pursue food as one would pursue any other an art – that is to embark upon a quest to obtain specific knowledge about a particular type of food - does not make someone a foodie. To truly be a foodie, one must have the resources, in both time and money, to devout to the pursuit of quality food. This being said, one must be wary to guard against the possibility of confusing the terms foodie and gourmet. A gourmet is a foodie, but not all foodies are gourmets. Gourmets only concern themselves with food that they consider to be of a sophisticated palate – fine wines, and expensive foods – while foodies concern themselves with all manner of foods; foodies do not subscribe to the concept that a high price makes an item worthwhile. A gourmet requires very vast resources to pursue his passions, while a foodie’s queries necessitate a much smaller allotment of resources; those of the middle class and higher are capable of devoting the assets necessary to become a foodie.
Socioeconomic status is an unfortunate determinant of many things in life. If one lacks money, he will simply not be able to do everything that he wants. Money plays a pivotal role in American society. In order to obtain any kind of knowledge or entertainment, a person must have at least some time and money on his hands. These factors influence vast tracts of life, and do not spare food related past times or pursuits. Because money and time are so important to becoming a foodie, the ability to obtain the title “foodie” is limited. Nowhere is this limitation written in stone, but it is clearly seen when one examines what it takes to become a foodie.
To attain foodie status, one must be not only be interested in food; he or she must pursue food of all kinds, continually searching for something new, exciting, and better than anything that came before. This pursuit requires not only time and money, but also passion. Foodies are who they are because they have a desire, a craving, for food in all its forms. They want to learn everything they can about all kinds of food, and from that knowledge, form their own opinions on what is the best. That is a marvelous thing about being a foodie. All of the personal resources devoted to the pursuit of food are applied to the individual’s concept of what is important. There are no rules to tell a foodie what he can or cannot attempt when it comes to his personal endeavor.
However, no matter how hard one tries to define the term foodie, it is far too fluid to really be contained in any single definition. The quest for knowledge is so encompassing that is can contain anything from searching for the best local coffee shops, to experiencing the most exotic kinds of fruit imaginable (When thinking of exotic fruit, the durian comes to mind; it is a very large fruit with a thick spiky husk and a very strong, unique odor. The odor is so strong in fact, that the fruit is banned from certain public places like subways and hotels in Southeast Asia). This great diversity means that foodie culture is open to anyone that can donate the time and money to his own personal quest.
There are many means by which a foodie can attain his goals. In American society, there is a vast number of cooking shows and programs devoted to food. While sitting on the couch watching someone else cook and experience the joys of food preparation and production does not make one a foodie, such shows are often invaluable tools in a foodie’s arsenal. He may watch to obtain ideas of what foods to delve into, or he may view with the sole intent of gleaning specific information from a particular episode or program. Foodies will often spend immense amounts of time watching various programs: something that is obviously only possible if one has the time to devout to such an endeavor. Those with such time usually have a job that does not require round the clock work to make ends meet. Foodies must not be harried by the stressors of living paycheck to paycheck. One who is struggling to support himself or his family cannot adequately devout time, money, or even concentration to the pursuit of something that is not absolutely necessary.
The time requirements alone prove that those of the lower class cannot possibly become a foodie. Researching food is a very time consuming process. To better understand the amount of time that it takes to really understand food, one can look to the book Bittersweet by Matt McAllester. The book tells the story of the author’s internal struggles with his mother’s death. His link to her becomes food; particularly, learning how to cook. In reading the book, one can see that learning enough about food to be able to competently cook requires a vast amount of time. McAllester spends hours upon hours reading cookbooks and cooking complex meals. The author can be considered a foodie because of his passion for food. He is interested in all kinds of food and he devotes most of his free time to cooking. McAllester’s situation shows quite clearly that the resources of time and money are requirements for becoming a foodie. Since he is a journalist, he has enough free time to devout to his pursuit of learning how to cook. He is not forced to work all day every day; if that were the case he never would have succeeded in his goals. He also earns enough money to be able to support his passions. Without money he would not have been able to obtain all the necessary materials and ingredients that he needed to learn how to cook on the level that he desired.
Learning to cook is not the only way to become a foodie. It is possible to be a foodie and not know the first thing about preparing food – granted, this is a very unlikely possibility. What is much more likely is that a foodie knows enough about food to competently cook a variety of meals, but simply prefers to purse food beyond his personal cooking abilities. One common pursuit is that a foodie spends all of his available resources on food prepared by others. Usually, this type of pursuit occurs in restaurant settings. Some foodies may spend their time and money focusing on a particular dish or ingredient, while others may compare different restaurants or even different food genres. The domain of the foodie is indeed a copious one, for many different kinds of food research and appreciation can be done when others prepare the food. A major benefit to learning about food through others is that it does not require quite as much time, since one does not have to learn everything about the food himself. He can simply enjoy and analyze the finished product. The commonality in all of these pursuits is the requirement of money. Eating out, whether in a five star restaurant or a local Chinese place, can be a costly pastime.
The two major resources that a foodie must have - time and money - can be augmented by other types of resources. The ability to readily absorb knowledge is something that will make a foodie’s pursuit much easier. Creativity is also a very valuable tool to have because it allows a foodie to see possibilities beyond the routine. In order to utilize these extra tools, one must have the two basic resources upon which to build his or her occupation as a foodie. This once again emphasizes that while everyone may have some of the resources to be a foodie, not everyone has the crucial ones. Those of the lower, working class simply do not have the time or money to become a foodie. They may have lots of other resources that would help them become astounding foodies, but until they have the two fundamental requirements, they cannot join the ranks. This being said, there is hope. Massive amounts of time and money make being a foodie much easier, but even those with limited time and money can pursue foodie objectives. All that someone of the working class needs is to further his or her job; to advance to a position where he or she has just a little bit of extra time and money. With just those few available resources, the attainment of foodie status is possible.
Chua, June. “Durian Fruit: The King of Fruit.” Suite101.com. 22 Sept. 2006. 24 Oct. 2009.http://asiancuisine.suite101.com/article.cfm/durian__the_king_of_fruit
McAllester, Matt. Bittersweet: Letters from My Mother’s Kitchen. New York: The Dial Press, 2009.
Newton, John. “Original Foodie.” The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 Jan. 2005. 20 Oct. 2009. http://www.smh.com.au/news/Good-Living/Original-foodie/2005/01/04/1104601340273.html
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