So many times we take a word and overuse it. We create a trite connection and all meaning is lost. Such is the life of the word FOODIE. It has been used and over-used and now has become redundant. Maybe the point hit home the hardest with a recent New York Times Crossword Puzzle. Foodie was the answer for eater. So begins the death of a trend.
Hardly does the simple act of eating define one as a foodie. Surely one who eats, eats food but foodie had taken on a more reverential, exalted status. I like the older definitions where one who knew about food and worshiped at its temple could accurately be so labeled as a lover of food, a foodie. An eater as a foodie. Hmm. If everyone is a foodie, then the word loses its significance and hidden underpinnings. No knowledge of the ingredients or concept of preparation gets identified with the simple construct of the act of eating. The love of the overall experience is lost.
So many times a foodie has been one who could simply explain his love of food without anyone even imagining an act so banal as eating. The word implied an understanding, an almost spiritual base of the love and lore of preparation and ingredient identification. It would be safe to call James Beard, Craig Claiborne, and Julia Child true exemplars of the potential movement. Julia would have scoffed at such a word and hooted at its usage, but she clearly carried the mantle of knowledge, the love of food and all that encompassed.
The humble, regular eater is hardly one who should be applauded with special terminology. It’s a meal; not a devotion. Over the past several years, the death of this word has been approaching as it was becoming too commonplace an attribution. Too many foodies were spoiling the broth.
Whether dining in or partaking of a beautiful restaurant experience, those who know food appreciate the entire experience. As the Crossword acknowledged, the word has taken on a Plain Jane quality and its demise is now at hand. No more foodies, just knowledgeable aficionados who have taken the basic and created a specialized field of knowledge and interest.
Food, glorious food.
