Let's Kill "Foodie"

[Dante]

"foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news."

Seems like a useful distinction to me. "Foodie" is a word that is in common culture, and it is meaningful to to people who do;t care about food.

Hm. Interesting...not sure of the use of the term "amatuer", tho. never seen that mentioned. People refer to me as a foodie (but I only accept use of that label for ease of communication, I don't self-identify with the term).

Amateur, eh? I'm an ex-professional, with professional education too, so now I wonder what I am...

Sincerely,

Dante

[Lindacakes]

With apologies to Janet, who I love, I think of Foodie as a term Rachel Ray would apply to herself. Someone upthread mentioned the fashion factor to the word.

There is an explanation on the Chowhound web site as to why they eschewed foodie. It's because a Chowhound is not a fashion eater.

At a recent demonstration of Rose Levy Bernbaum's in New York, everyone went around the room introducing themselves, I'm a this, I'm a that, and they got to me and I said, "I bake." Everyone laughed, and it was funny, but I hadn't meant it to be.

Maniac eat freak would describe me.

[vox]

do people think there are certain class dimensions to being a foodie?

do you have to occupy a certain socio-economic bracket? be living in an urban centre?

can someone who only eats at fast food chains be considered a foodie?