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A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...
, and who eats food not only out of
hunger In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In t ...
but also as a
hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other ...
. The related terms " gastronome" and "
gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...
" define roughly the same thing, i.e. a person who enjoys food for
pleasure Pleasure is experience that feels good, that involves the enjoyment of something. It contrasts with pain or suffering, which are forms of feeling bad. It is closely related to value, desire and action: humans and other conscious animals find ...
; the connotation of "foodie" differs slightly—a sort of everyday person with a love for food culture and different foods. Some, such as Paul Levy, say the foodie can still be a "foodist". Foodie in slang can be used to describe someone who searches out food and bases their schedule around that endeavor.


Usage

The word ''foodie'' — not as elitist as a
gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...
, more discriminating than a glutton — was first named in print in the early 1980s. The term came into use almost simultaneously in the United States and Britain.
Gael Greene Gael Greene (December 22, 1933 – November 1, 2022) was an American restaurant critic, author, and novelist. She became '' New York'' magazine's restaurant critic in fall 1968, at a time when most New Yorkers were unsophisticated about food and ...
is sometimes credited as being the first to use the word; in June 1980, she wrote in ''
New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...
'' of a character who "slips into the small Art Deco dining room of Restaurant d'Olympe ... to graze cheeks with her devotees, serious foodies." Immediately afterwards, ''foodie'' was defined in the British press.
Ann Barr Isabel Ann Barr (16 September 1929 – 4 May 2015) was a British journalist and writer involved in coining the terms Sloane Rangers and Foodies, in the early 1980s. Early life Isabel Ann Barr was born in London to Andrew and Margaret Barr, who w ...
, features editor of the London magazine '' Harper's & Queen'', had asked readers to comment on a then-new obsession with food. Several readers' responses named Paul Levy, food writer in ''Harper's & Queen'', as the perfect example. Levy played along,Paul Levy,
What is a foodie?
in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' (14 June 2007)
contributing an anonymous article in August 1982, defining the term as "foodist", who "dislike and despise all non-foodies" and characterizing himself as the "ghastly, his-stomach-is-bigger-than-his-eyes, original, appetite-unsuppressed, lip-smacking 'king foodie'". The word gained currency rapidly, partly because Barr and Levy followed up with a book, ''The Official Foodie Handbook'' (), published in 1984.


Receptions of the term

Chris Onstad, author of the webcomic '' Achewood'' and the author of ''The Achewood Cookbook'', stated a dislike for the term. Onstad said "There are so many words that already describe the concept of people who like food, or enjoy cooking, or enjoy knowing about cooking. "Foodie": It's like the infantile diminutive—you put a "y" on the end of everything to make it childlike. We don't need it. It's embarrassing. 'Girl, I'm a foodie.' Like oh my God." Many journalists, like Roberto A. Ferdman, author of "Stop Calling Yourself a 'Foodie'" in the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', also criticize the word saying, "There is a great irony in describing yourself as a food insider in a way no actual food insider ever would." Ferdman claims that people who associate themselves with being a "foodie" are in fact distancing themselves from the group they wish to be associated with. The author then states that there is nothing wrong with having an interest in food, in fact this popular trend is helping the food movement thrive. Ferdman's main argument is that since the word is so widely used, its meaning has become ubiquitous and some meaning is lost upon the need to constantly announce how much someone likes to eat.


Pursuits

Foodies are a distinct
hobbyist A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other ...
group. Typical foodie interests and activities include the
food industry The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, ...
,
wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...
and
wine tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...
, breweries and beer sampling,
food science Food science (or bromatology) is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing ...
, following
restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
openings and closings and occasionally reopenings,
food distribution Food distribution is the process where a general population is supplied with food. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) considers food distribution as a subset of the Food systems, food system. The process and methodology behind food distri ...
, food fads,
health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
and
nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...
, cooking classes,
culinary tourism Culinary tourism or food tourism or gastronomy tourism is the exploration of food as the purpose of tourism. It is considered a vital component of the tourism experience. Dining out is common among tourists and "food is believed to rank alongsid ...
, and
restaurant management Restaurant management is the profession of managing a restaurant. Associate, bachelor, and graduate degree programs are offered in restaurant management by community colleges, junior colleges, and some universities in the United States Th ...
. A foodie might develop a particular interest in a specific item, such as the best egg cream or
burrito A burrito (, ) or burro in Mexico is, historically, a regional name, among others, for what is known as a taco, a tortilla filled with food, in other parts of the country. The term ''burrito'' was regional, specifically from Guanajuato, Guerre ...
. Many publications have
food column A food column is a type of newspaper column dealing with food. It may be focused on recipes, health trends, or improving efficiency. It is generally geared towards gourmets or "foodies". Since 1994, food writers have also written columns and bl ...
s that cater to foodies and many of the
websites A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, education ...
carrying the name foodie have become popular amongst the foodies. Interest by foodies in the 1980s and 1990s gave rise to the Food Network and other specialized food programming, popular films and television shows about food such as ''
Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...
'' and ''
Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle buil ...
'', a renaissance in specialized
cookbooks A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cours ...
, specialized periodicals such as ''Gourmet'' Magazine and ''
Cook's Illustrated ''Cook's Illustrated'' is an American cooking magazine published every two months by America's Test Kitchen Limited Partnership (ATK) in Brookline, Massachusetts. On February 2, 2023, ''Cook's Illustrated'' was one of ATK's brands included in th ...
'', growing popularity of
farmers' markets A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...
, food-oriented websites like Zagat's and
Yelp Yelp Inc. is an American company that develops the Yelp.com website and the Yelp mobile app, which publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. It also operates Yelp Guest Manager, a table reservation service. It is headquartered in S ...
, publishing and reading food
blogs A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
like Foodbeast and foodieworld, specialized kitchenware stores like
Williams Sonoma Williams Sonoma is an American retailer of cookware, appliances, and home furnishings. It is owned by Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and was founded by Chuck Williams (author), Charles E. (Chuck) Williams in 1956. History In 1947, Chuck Williams settle ...
and Sur La Table, and the institution of the
celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...
. Foodies have a significant
social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
presence; food lovers have created their own
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channels where they show what they cook and where they eat around the world. It has also become a common practice to take photos of food and beverages consumed at home or outside and share them on
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
,
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
,
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
, or other media in a form of food porn.


See also

*
Culinary tourism Culinary tourism or food tourism or gastronomy tourism is the exploration of food as the purpose of tourism. It is considered a vital component of the tourism experience. Dining out is common among tourists and "food is believed to rank alongsid ...
* Fooding *
Gourmand A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming particularly good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively. Etymolo ...


References


Further reading

* Barr, A. & Levy, P. (1984).
The official foodie handbook.
' Arbor House. * Getz, D., Robinson, R., Vujcic, S. & Andersson, T. (2015).
Foodies and food tourism.
' Goodfellow Publishers, Credo Reference. * Johnston, J. & Baumann, S. (2014).
Foodies: Democracy and distinction in the gourmet landscape.
' Routledge. * Leer, J. & Povlsen, K.K. (2016).
Food and media: practices, distinctions and heterotopias
'. Routledge. * Long, Lucy M. (Ed.) (2010).
Culinary tourism
'. University of Kentucky. * Rousseau, Signe. (2012).
Food and social media: you are what you tweet.
' Altamira Press.


External links

* *{{Facebook, FoodieStreetFood
World Food Travel AssociationThe FoodieThe Foodie TravelsBrew & Chew
Food and drink appreciation 1980 introductions 1980s neologisms