Eater: The Life and Death of the American Foodie

I thought this was a good read.

It was, thanks for posting it.

Good summary of the history of “foodies” but I also think the author is still living too much in her own foodie bubble (as we do sometimes on this board) - in my experience the foodie mindset might be far more “normal” than perhaps 30 years ago but at the same time it is still far from mainstream as the author indicates.

Indeed – just 10 minutes ago in a conversation, I said I hate the word foodie…but I don’t know another word that equals that meaning!

Good read, for sure!

Chowhound was such a more exclusive term — in that most peeps outside the food(ie) world had never heard of it

it would be interesting for the hive mind here to come up with a definition for ‘foodie’ . . .

stuff I’ve read, , , the author hasn’t so much as a single taste bud . . .

“Foodie” to me had nothing to do with taste; that’s purely subjective anyway and said author might equally say the same of your taste buds. That feels like more of a “gourmand” kind of thing. Foodie had everything to do with attitude, inclination, and appreciation: Willingness and desire to try or at least learn about new and especially “foreign” things, whether or not you end up liking them. And an appreciation for food at all levels – from “fancy” to street and everywhere in between. (All of which should in theory yield a more discerning palate and perhaps better or at least more refined taste, but that’s a side-effect of the journey and not the journey itself…)

I’m OK with describing myself as a foody. It’s a word readily understood , at least in general terms, by most folk. And I agree there isnt really another word to equal it

see - you’ve proven there’s no definition.
ditched all the usual concepts and substituted your own . . .
which is okay.

Not to inject politics, but it strikes me that “woke” has the same positive/negative connotative dichotomy: some people see it as a good thing, and others as a bad. (It’s not quite the same as a contronym, which is a word with two opposite denotations, e.g., cleave.)

So I gave you what you asked for and now you’re upset that I didn’t give you whatever “usual concepts” you had in mind. lol.

To be perfectly honest with you, I never much cared for the term “Chowhound”. Any more than I do “Hungry Onion. But I was a CH then and a HO now. And that’s how I like to refer to myself.

I don’t think I’ve ever referred to myself as either, independent from those sites. I would get some weird looks, for sure.

But using HO here, and CH there certainly made sense.

The CH manifesto was a bit too pretentious for me, TBH. Worse than the name itself.

Don’t get me started.

The best thing about the demise of Chowhound is that I’ll never have to read that complete tosh again.

It may be different where you are in the world but, in the UK, “woke” is invariably used as an insult. No-one ever uses it in a positive way - "Oh, yes, I’m really woke. It’s the same as its predecessor “politically correct”.

So, to my mind, different to foody/foodie which is a generally much less controversial word.

I never liked the term foodie because it’s screams dilettante…or goofy, corny, like many words with the cutesy “ie” or “y” suffix. As the sub header states, it’s pop culture-y, meaning a trend that’s on the light side and ready to marketed to DEATH.

That said, if it means more awareness of food and what you eat, that’s a good thing. Regardless of the term, it’s a good thing. And yes, foodies demanding better food helps everyone or creates demand for better food.

Just never liked the word. Foodie to me means more instagram photos and breathless panting. Demand and images but not much substance. Of course I dislike gourmet and even found “chowhound” a little weird. (yup, a corporation bought it and tried to market TF out of it…and failed…and they’re still trying). Never liked gourmand either….too high falooting for me….but I thinks that’s where I stand, an appreciation of food and how it’s prepared and no label.

Labels especially in pop culture are things MARKETING (and corporations by default) zeroes in on….and eventually kills. This is part of pop culture, capitalism and driving demand so a buck or a few million can be made. It’s a cycle, find, exploit, let die. Marketers love a term like foodie, inoffensive, cute, marketable. Remember HIPPIE….marketing and corporations zeroed in on that too. Beware of the “IE” or “Y” suffix.