The Moral Crusade Against Foodies

The Moral Crusade Against Foodies

This March issue of The Atlantic outlines The Moral Crusade Against Foodies. The article is available in full online: here are some choice quotes:


So secure is the gourmet community in its newfound reputation, so sure is it of its rightness, that it now proclaims the very qualities—greed, indifference to suffering, the prioritization of food above all—that earned it so much obloquy in the first place. Bourdain starts off his book by reveling in the illegality of a banquet at which he and some famous (unnamed) chefs dined on ortolan, endangered songbirds fattened up, as he unself-consciously tells us, in pitch-dark cages. After the meal, an “identical just-fucked look” graced each diner’s face. Eating equals sex, and in accordance with this self-flattery, gorging is presented in terms of athleticism and endurance. “You eat way past the point of hitting the wall. Or I do anyway.”
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We have already seen that the foodie respects only those customs, traditions, beliefs, cultures—old and new, domestic and foreign—that call on him to eat more, not less. But the foodie is even more insatiable in regard to variety than quantity. Johnston and Baumann note that “eating unusual foods is part of what generates foodie status,” and indeed, there appears to be no greater point of pride in this set than to eat with the indiscriminate omnivorousness of a rat in a zoo dumpster. Jeffrey Steingarten called his first book The Man Who Ate Everything. Bourdain writes, with equal swagger, “I’ve eaten raw seal, guinea pig. I’ve eaten bat.”
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Not too long ago MSNBC.com put out an article titled “Some Bravery as a Side Dish.” It listed “7 foods for the fearless stomach,” one of which was ortolan, the endangered songbirds fattened in dark boxes. The more lives sacrificed for a dinner, the more impressive the eater. Dana Goodyear: “Thirty duck hearts in curry … The ethos of this kind of cooking is undeniably macho.” Amorality as ethos, callousness as bravery, queenly self-absorption as machismo: no small perversion of language is needed to spin heroism out of an evening spent in a chair.
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The foodie fringe enjoys enough media access to make daily claims for its sophistication and virtue, for the suitability of its lifestyle as a model for the world. We should not let it get away with those claims. Whether gluttony is a deadly sin is of course for the religious to decide, and I hope they go easy on the foodies; they’re not all bad. They are certainly single-minded, however, and single-mindedness—even in less obviously selfish forms—is always a littleness of soul.

And, the much more reasoned response, IMHO, by Francis Lam.

aschie30 wrote:And, the much more reasoned response, IMHO, by Francis Lam.

Her open hurts a little...

Look, I hate "foodies" as much as the next guy. You know the people I'm talking about -- taking pictures of every plate, crowding out conversation with their pointless listing of chef names.

But I applauded this closing idea:

I cook food because I love food. I eat food because I love food. But I write about food because I love people -- I love the stories of people who cook and eat and share food, of how they come together around it, how they see the world through it, and how you can see a part of them through it. To me, these stories, these connections are full of wonder and surprise. Sometimes they're complicated and painful, sometimes they're generous and happy. To revel in that is to understand the power of food, and, for me, to be in a joyful place.

Amen to that.

David Hammond wrote:

aschie30 wrote:And, the much more reasoned response, IMHO, by Francis Lam.

Her open hurts a little...

His...

Meh.

Seems a pretty one dimensional view of a sort of subculture he really doesn’t seem to understand (or care to).

Even a cursory review of topics on LTH alone reveals requests for advice on cooking at Ronald McDonald House as well as calls for help with various charities from soup kitchens to services for the developmentally disabled.

Food is something we all have in common and it can be used to great effect to bring us together. Meyers misses that point in dramatic fashion.

Perhaps there are some less than savory characters who define themselves in terms of the excesses they can accomplish but to label everyone with a passion and interest in food in the same way is “painting with a pretty broad brush”.

But that's just my 2¢

I've seen reasonable responses in the Village Voice and Salon, but my favorite was penned back in '93. Yeah, this schtick has been done before, significantly less dourly:

of http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-0 ... egetarians

Royko wrote:And he wrote:

"The more I look at Mike Royko, the more he looks like the son of Rudolf Hess -- with the personality to match."

(For those weak on World War II history, Hess was a top aide to Adolf Hitler and was a loony. I don't know if I look like his son, never having met the unfortunate lad.)

Palczak goes on: "Here's a man so hedonistic that he probably can't go three hours without a cigarette and a martini or a raw steak."

(Actually, I can go as long as four hours without any of the above. Not that it is any of Palczak's business, since I don't ask how long he can go without eating a radish.)

"I'm sure he has the willpower of a gnat and is as grumpy as he looks because he wants and demands constant gratification. His whole crusty life is devoted to pleasing the senses and satisfying his lust for raw meat.

"As you will note, in his picture, Royko looks constipated. It's obvious he's not getting his fiber. His crusty, old, leathery body is desperate for precious vegetable fiber and enzymes. Look closely and you'll agree. His crusty, alcohol-diluted mind cares neither for his fellow creatures nor even his own body. This man lives only for today."

(That's not entirely accurate. I also live for yesterdays, when every special-interest twit didn't try to impose his fanatical beliefs on the rest of us.)

PS, it seems possible that Royko's antagonist in this 2-man Vaudeville act was written by John Kennedy Toole years earlier. Much better stuff than the Korea policy wonk can do.

I do detect some disapproval even in my friends that are not food oriented. I have friends that eat food to live and food is not important to them. They rarely eat out and don't seek out new restaurants. They watch everything they eat and go to the gym everyday. Especially if you are over weight as I am, I know they disapprove of "foodism" and probably talk about me behind my back and wish I was less food oriented. I know when they go out they think "She should not eat that" or "why is she making cookies". I have friends that would not dream of putting a french fry in their mouth. They would flip if they saw me tearing into baby backs, even if I only eat half a slab and take the rest home for the next day. I think there is a backlash against foodies in some quarters and the articles point it up. I am slightly squeamish about eating at really high end places as its so expensive and there is guilt. Is this really just a pretentious place for people with too much money to throw around....I tell myself there are worse vices.

I have to admit I get grossed out when I see the guy that gorges on the travel channel or see what A. Zimmern eats. I guess everyone has their food hangups and peculiarities. That's why I come here to post about food because I really can't talk that much about it with my friends as they are not interested and just see me as obsessed and needing to lose weight. Mind you these are people in their sixties not young folks. I think they think they are going to live forever if they don't indulge or maybe their doctors have scared the pants from them about high cholesteral... well those are my rambling thoughts...off to sushimono to eat with a friend who loves food, but eats like a bird.

This is mostly a vegan ranting about the evils of people who eat meat. He has his own agenda.

LAZ wrote:This is mostly a vegan ranting about the evils of people who eat meat. He has his own agenda.

exactly

Herp Derp