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Shifting Food Cultures

Food culture consists of the kinds of foods people eat, when they eat, where they eat, how they get or prepare their food, and why they eat it. This culture can change when other parts of a society change and different manners of eating better fit new lifestyles. It is true that the term “food culture” is a very general term, which that may not apply to everyone, but can be seen as an overall food trend. For example, the food culture in the 60s could be demonstrated by a family who ate home-cooked meals at set times and set places everyday because this was what everyone did and this was simply how eating was done. Today, some families may still have a home-cooked dinner together every night at 6 o’clock as used to be the norm, however in general this is no longer common. It is now more common to see people eating more sporadically, eating on the go, and eating in a more individualistic manner. For some, the increasingly fast paced lifestyle that encourages this shift in eating habits has led to a reliance on premade, grocery store or drive-through items to survive. Others, those that might be called “foodies”, exhibit a range of food consumption characteristics that have only recently been observed as a part of American culture.

In her article titled “Eating at the Edge,” Jamie Horwitz discusses the need for food convenience that has arisen and been supported by food industries. Her article opens with a quote from Charles Simic, “American fast food has the advantage of being portable. It’s hard to eat spaghetti or goulash in bed or in a car; it’s much easier with a bag of chips or a can of peanuts.” This quote exemplifies the importance of fast and easy to eat food in a fast-paced society. If meals were still commonly prepared and eaten at preset times and destinations it would not be important to have single serving foods available to eat alone when time is available. This however, is not the case for many people today. Horwitz gives examples of astronauts or travelers as people who are not able to plan their time around meals, but working people, those going to school and those with many other commitments are in this circumstance as well. This is why many people have diets consisting of convenient, individually prepared meals eaten on the go even if this is not their preferred eating style.

As a freshman in college, I can attest to the importance of premade and readily available food. With only a short break between classes, there is usually not time for a meal in the dining hall spent eating with friends. More often than not lunch means grabbing something premade at a coffee shop near classes and eating it either in class, at work, or while catching up on homework. This is food that I would not choose to eat if there were other options and time to get something else, but it is the most convenient when you are hungry and crunched for time. Many people in college also turn to things like “Soup at Hand” or ramen noodles to eat late at night when cafeterias are closed or because they have gotten tired of eating the same bland foods in the cafeteria day after day. Although college students are not exactly like astronauts struggling to eat their freeze-dried meals while floating through the air, we have schedule and availability constraints too and ramen is sometimes the easiest thing.

For some people however, the change in food culture to focusing on the individual has inspired them not to turn to ramen noodles, but to make their eating personally meaningful. Whereas many people find  “Soup at Hand products that capitalize on consumer desire for an easily heated, well-contained, single serving that requires no preparation, no serving dishes or cleanup” (Horwitz 44) to be perfect for their needs, some people find things these products to conventional for their diets. People considered to be “foodies” have refined and “enthusiastic interest in the preparation and consumption of good food” according to an online dictionary. Things like cup noodles do not satisfy their individualistic food needs and are probably not included in their ideas about what foods are good to be eating.

According to Anna Brones, there is more than one type of foodie; she claims food enthusiasts might fall under one of ten different categories. Some of these categories seem quite obscure while some with carry a less than favorable connotation. Brones claims that these different categories of eaters include the “I made it myself!” the “organivore,” the “Europhile,” the “one upper,” the “snob,” the “anti snob,” the “avoider,” the “blogging food pornographer,” the “bacon lover,” and the “DIYer.” The “bacon lover” was the most unexpected of the categories, described as someone who didn’t eat any meat besides bacon, which was eaten with much enthusiasm. I had never previously heard of this particular category, but those such as the “avoider” or the “organivore” definitely describe a noticeable population of eaters. “Gluten free” or “vegan” can be seen after items listed on many restaurant’s menus or on products found in the grocery store catering to those avoiders who don’t eat soy, are vegan or vegetarian. Local farmers markets can be seen full of avid “organivore” eater stocking up on their organic and locally grown vegetables for their consumption. It can definitely be noted that there is no “Starbucks lover” or “canned soup enthusiast,” category, rather the above types all aim to be nonconventional in their manner of fulfilling the human need to eat.

While out to eat at a Thai food restaurant recently with my dad, I noticed a bit of this foodie culture going on. I did not see any bacon lovers, but I did notice some snobbery, made an observation about the “blogging food pornographer” and saw some appeals to “the avoider” and the “organivore” made by the restaurant itself.

As I read the menu I saw that they included “gf” and “v” after the names of many of their dishes, for the “gluten free” and “vegan” options. I also read “we buy local and natural when possible and prudent.” My dad, apparently not aware of the new slang that goes along with change in food culture asked what “gf” and “v” stood for, sounding quite unimpressed when I told him what these abbreviations meant. A foodie under the category of “avoiders” however, find these to be extremely important food groups and would have probably supported the restaurant for being inclusive to their needs.

Then, as I took out my phone to take a picture of a plate of food my dad suggested that I should explain to the waiter that I was just taking a picture for class because they would probably think it was a strange thing to do.  It never crossed my mind that anyone might think this was weird to do. My friends always put pictures of especially good-looking dishes on Instagram or Facebook for others to view. In the article “Foodie-ism, as youth culture,” the writer goes out to eat with a few young food enthusiasts and notices that they take “quick photos of each dish as it is placed on the table,” and how “Dish snapshots and social-network check-ins are a given.” The article notes how this growing attention to food has become a large part in the culture of younger generations, and the author might have explained his eating companion as of Brones’ “blogging food pornographers.”

Lastly, I witnessed a food “snob” in action. I watched a waitress call one of the cooks over holding a small plate of pad Thai in her hand. Across the bar I saw a young women talking quietly and animatedly with her date. The waitress stood next to me and explained to the cook that the woman across the bar had claimed that “food was her thing,” and that as a “foodie” she thought that the pad Thai was badly spiced. This woman apparently was not convinced that just saying her food was too spicy was good enough, but had to insist that her opinion on food, “as a foodie” was better than the restaurant. I am pretty sure that she was a great example of someone belonging to the “snob” category.

Through this recent dining experience, and through experiences of eating in college I have gotten a feel for the current culture of food. Some eat the most convenient foods for survival and some eat a self-chosen diet that holds up to their food standards. My dad did not know what “gf” and “v” stood for because these terms were not always so important and visible. Food industries have evolved for the new food enthusiasts with all their different obsessions and for those of us who need a quick self-serving sized meal on the go. The way we eat today, whether for convenience or preference, is more based on individual needs and wants than it used to be

Sources:

Brones, Anna. "Foodie Underground: The 10 Types of Foodies (and What to Do with Them)." EcoSalon. 12 Dec. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://ecosalon.com/foodie-underground-the-10-types-of-foodies-and-what-to-do-with-them/>.

 Horwitz, Jamie. "Eating at the Edge." Gastronomica 9.3 (2009): 42-47. Print.

 Idov, Michael. "New York Magazine." NYMag.com. 25 Mar. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/foodies-2012-4/>.