Foodies

[zilla369]

I work in an amazing grocery store ( check out centralmarket.com). I wear an apron that says "foodie" on it. A coworker and I invented the foodie position 6 years ago. Our job is to educate our customers on the products they buy. I can help you choose: a marinade for sea bass, an olive oil to drizzle over your bean soup, a wheat-free tamari, a salad dressing for spinach salad, a vegetarian option for a dinner party, a glaze for pork tenderloin....I can find you a recipe for potato soup, tell you how to use mole, cuitlacoche, rosti, and garlic juice...I can help you organize a dinner party for 12 ....find "foreign" foods for your 12 year old's social studies project...

To us, foodie denotes "food expert". I'm not embarrassed to wear the apron.

That sounds like a fantasy job! I'm jealous. I just love helping people figure out stuff, and have often had wistful thoughts about being a "food concierge".

[marie-louise]

I don't think of foodie as a derisive term, any more than I think of techie as a negative descriptor. To me, adding "ie" to a word merely means interested in. Well, maybe, obsessed with, but not used as a put-down.

[Sweet Willie]

I really like Jason's "eGulletarian" -- the pun is very apposite, but the problem is we could only use the title here

I'm pretty sure that the folks of eG would like to see the term become very identifiable. so use away.

As for the topic, I prefer the ying/yang approach mentioned above, I try to appreciate both "sides" of the food spectrum.

[Jaymes]

I just consider the meaning of "foodie" to be "someone interested in food." A food hobbyist. With no moral value judgment attached one way or the other.

And I am one.

And I wear the label proudly.

The first time I ever heard "foodie" used as a pejorative was from that annoying elitist, Jim Leff.

And I refuse to let him dictate my definitions.

If I want to speak in derogatory terms about someone that follows all the latest fads and trends, there already exists a perfectly good insult I can use: "food-faddist."

It means just what it sounds like.

Edited September 11, 2003 by Jaymes (log)

[Bux]

I just consider the meaning of "foodie" to be "someone interested in food."  A food hobbyist.  With no moral value judgment attached one way or the other.

Just don't call me late for dinner.

[tommy]

I just consider the meaning of "foodie" to be "someone interested in food."  A food hobbyist.  With no moral value judgment attached one way or the other.

but what good is a label if you can't insult people with it?

[Jaymes]

I just consider the meaning of "foodie" to be "someone interested in food."  A food hobbyist.  With no moral value judgment attached one way or the other.

but what good is a label if you can't insult people with it?

But Tommy. As I said, I DO have a handy insult: you FADDIST you!