Chow Bella - Death of the Foodie

Death of the Foodie

Wed May 14, 2008 at 08:55:28 AM

Now it's official: the powers that be have banned the use of "foodie" here.

Honestly, I don't think I've abused the word in my writing. Moving forward, though, you're going to start seeing a lot more names on Chow Bella, and "foodie" is hereby off-limits to NT writers.

I've had a love-hate relationship with the word myself. When I first started hearing the term, especially when people referred to themselves as foodies, it had an inherent assholery. Calling yourself a foodie had about the same meaning to me as saying, "I'm an elitist dick."

But over the years, I realize it doesn't necessarily imply elitism, just an obsession with good food -- and "good food" can mean so many things. I've also started to see the evils of bad food (blame or thank Michael Pollan!), and foodies are often the people advocating environmentally friendly views on food. Now, the word itself has a goofy, whimsical quality that seems endearing.

Of course, I have to bite the bullet and admit that I've been a foodie all along. And if you're reading this blog, you probably consider yourself one, too.

But I need a new word -- actually, a variety of new words would be nice. Something that you'll read and understand to mean "foodie," almost like a secret code. I'm not really keen on overusing "gourmet," because has an even more snobbish ring to it. And as dearly as I love my Chowhound friends, I can't lobby for that word taking over, either. Every time I see my bulldog stick his face in a bowl full of puppy chow, I have to remind myself that Chowhound is just a website, not my ravenous pet.

So please feed my vocabulary! What do you consider yourself, if not a foodie?

10 Comments:

David SB says:

The word "foodie" has been banned? Have agents of Sheriff Joe secretly infiltrated Village Voice Media? Seriously, this sounds a little heavy-handed and out of character for the New Times.

possibilities: connoisseur, aficionado, gourmand, diner, eater, enthusiast

As you can see, none is a really good replacment of all the nuances conveyed by foodie. Also, many of these words require some sort of modifier in order to work (e.g. chocolate aficionado)

Good luck with this challenge!

Posted at: May 14, 2008 10:56 AM

leathej1 says:

One of the things I dislike about many labels is that they typically aspire to be all-encompassing of a person's lifestyle. Call someone an "activist", and they sound like an overzealous wacko 24/7. A "foodie" thus becomes a compulsive eater who can't pick a favorite restaurant and stick with it.

To build in the perception of balance, why not try "food tourist". This implies that the subject is not macking around diners fulltime, but is instead planning occasional excursions to different dining locales, for the inherent purpose of gaining culinary perspective. A "food tourist" is not afraid to visit a third-world eating establishment and sup with the locals. A "food tourist" just wants to see it all - taste it all.

Posted at: May 14, 2008 11:32 AM

davelog says:

Cast my vote for 'consumption specialist'.

Posted at: May 14, 2008 3:12 PM

Alexander says:

I like foodcentric.. new word? LOL!

Ex..Me and my friends are foodcentrics!

Has a nice ring to it, eh?

Posted at: May 15, 2008 8:53 PM

Ed Fury says:

Banning a word across a newspaper chain is quite possibly the dumbest journalism news I've heard in a long time.

Maybe ban the tragically bad writing (not you, Michelle) that appears in the papers instead, eh?

Posted at: May 19, 2008 9:46 AM

Kate says:

I can't believe you can't use foodie, however, as an alternative maybe foomet or foodmet, a combo of food and gourmet might work. As a good description of food, foodelicious is a must!

Posted at: May 19, 2008 8:46 PM

Kate says:

Just had another input --- foodmeister

Posted at: May 19, 2008 8:48 PM

Kate says:

As per my previous post, foomet or foodmet is pronounced with an "ay" at the end as in gourmet. Probably didn't need to post this but wth.

Posted at: May 19, 2008 9:07 PM

Kate says:

I know, enough already but I've had more input--foodasauras, gourmetasauras, cuisineasauras

Posted at: May 19, 2008 9:30 PM

Kate says:

OMG, I am slightly red in the face! it should be foodasaurus, gourmetasaurus and cuisineasaurus - not as[s] like me. Not like anyone really cares.