Can Vegetarians be Foodies?
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Posted by Blake the Megalomaniac (Follow Me)- Blake the Megalomaniac is a graduate of Virginia Tech and now lives the Adams Morgan section of Washington DC. - To see more posts by this author click here |
July 25, 2010 – Can vegetarians be Foodies? I’m not sure. Honestly, I may not even be qualified to consider the question. I’ve served, cooked, and hosted in restaurants before but now I’m lucky if I get eat anything more appetizing than cafeteria fare. I want to disagree with the author of the post for which this is in-reply to who believes vegetarians are not foodies b/c I feel that the same people that coin terms like “Foodie” to segment a specific group in our population are the people that apply subjective standards to these same terms to exclude others from being apart of this “in-crowd.” Like me I’m sure you’re dead tired of the f*cked-out term anyway but like it or not, it’s here to stay.
So, what is a foodie?
The urban dictionary defines ‘Foodie’ as “a person that spends a keen amount of attention and energy on knowing the ingredients of food, the proper preparation of food, and finds great enjoyment in top-notch ingredients and exemplary preparation.” Just for fun, it also describes a ‘Foodie’ as “either a 27-year-old woman with a boob job, or a gay man with a great job. Both claiming to have many friends that are also foodies and see Rachael Ray have foodgasms and expect the same from Burger King.” And there’s the dichotomy of the term and why some use it and some don’t. A great definition I found from slashfood.com describes a foodie as someone who knows what they like, why they like it, who recognizes why some foods are better than others and wants to have good tasting food all or certainly most of the time.
Bam!
And that’s why I’m in complete opposition to the author’s post. The excerpt below is from a blog I stumbled upon months ago. In it the author had some pretty unenlightened views on vegetarians (unenlightened in my view anyway). Now, I like vegetarians. Not the “I don’t eat meat but I’ll eat fish vegetarians,” but the vegetarians who follow a plant-based diet. The ones who take a firm stance on how they’d like to conduct their life and stick with it because staying with it takes discipline and most people don’t have enough discipline to brush their teeth twice-a-day let alone abstain from by-products of animal slaughter.
The author of this piece, after viewing a Top Chef Las Vegas episode (2009) that featured the vegetarian Natalie Portman as one of the judges for a quickfire opined that vegetarians cannot be foodies.
An excerpt is below:
“I’ve got nothing against vegetarians (well, most of them anyway), but on an episode of the most recent season of Top Chef, Natalie Portman guest-judged and went out of her way to talk about how she was a big foodie, loved food and was an adventurous eater. There was, of course, one catch: she’s a vegetarian. That episode inspired me to write this, which I tried turning into a list, but it only would have turned out something like this:
Top One Reasons Why Vegetarians Aren’t “Foodies”
1. Because they’re vegetarians
That’s really the only reason. I’m sorry, I find it hard to believe that someone who removes virtually the entire food chain from her diet can truly call herself a “foodie”. How can you be an adventurous eater if you won’t even eat a hamburger? Boasting that you’ve tried “at least a dozen”
Well, I consulted my food experts (the authors of OneBiteataTime DininginDC Mangotomato and Iflipforfood) and all but one were in a agreement that vegetarians can be and are ‘Foodies’ BUT I wanted to leave the question up to you guys.
Do you think vegetarians can be foodies? Leave your opinions in the comments section and stumble, twitter, email this around so we can get an array of opinions.
Just some food for thought, you do the dishes.
Related posts:
- Washington D.C. Restaurant Week
- Proof: Fully-Vested
- Top Chef: Las Vegas (Episode 3)
- Top Chef: Vivre Las Vegas (Episode 4)
- Swagger Jackin’ & Other Words from the Urban Dictionary
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Okay I’m one of those “eat *like* a vegetarian but still eat fish” people (but note I did not call myself a vegetarian) but have on several occasions have had people to refer to me as a foodie. Why? I’m not sure. I think everyone has their own definition of what a foodie is but the term has been thrown around so much that it doesn’t have just one meaning. I *do* think it’s possible to be vegetarian and still eat a broad spectrum of foods. Vegetarians may not eat meat but there are so many foods out there that normal meat-eaters would be very unlikely to try. When I stopped eating meat it forced me to try things like kale, squash, nutritional yeast, etc – I learned to step outside of the box.
Sure they can. My fiancee would surely beg to differ. There are tons of restaurants in NYC that offer full, exotic and delicious vegetarian tasting menus. Komi, in DC, also offers a full vegetarian menu. To say you can’t be one because you don’t eat meat is like saying im not a foodie if i wont try cow testicles.
I agree with you guys. You can certainly be a “foodie” (I do hate that term too) if you are a veg. I think that someone like Natalie Portman is a great example of a true vegetarian. She obviously stands her ground and promotes her stance as to why she chooses to not eat meat. If you enjoy what you eat, appreciate its source, and respect the work that has gone into its preparation it shouldn’t matter if you are vegan, pescatarian, veg…what have you. Veggie or not, go out enjoy the amazing food that this city has to offer!
I think there is something to be said for the term “foodie” as it relates to food judges, bloggers and the like…Typically, this is a self-proclaimed term and to me simply means the person enjoys and can appreciate fine foods. Just because you don’t eat meat does not mean you can’t tell an overcooked dish or under seasoned meal. Eating meat is a preference the same way it is when I tell people I don’t like sweets. Does that remove me from those that know a thing or two about good food? No. I just prefer to judge food that does not include sweets or the like the same way a person who does not eat meat should be free to judge dishes without being a carnivore and still be considered a true foodie.
I agree with all of you. I think the author of the post we’re in opposition to took a narrow-minded stance based off the quantity of meat offerings out there. But you’re right a lot of places especially small/plate and tapas geared places have a plethora of veggie options. By not eating a specific food it could open up our eyes to all the foods we were missing or didn’t know about. It forces us to free our mind, to borrow a line from the Matrix. Now could someone who only eats meat still consider themselves a foodie? j/p
The plant world encompasses hundreds of thousands of plants that are considered edible by the human species. How many animals do we eat, not many. The range of culinary endeavors one can explore with plants blows away what one can do with animal sources. Now, I’m not a veggie but I follow a plant-based diet, with the inclusion of pristinely raised animal sources when the body calls for them. Funny thing, most “foodies” I’ve been around don’t even care where their animals come from. Factory farmed animals are not considered “foodie” worthy, I thought. Surely no “foodie” would call themselves that without understanding the role of the pristinely raised animal as opposed to the magnificently marbled, Angus ribeye they might get at their favorite steakhouse. There’s more to being a”foodie” than to just like stuffed squash blossoms. Know your source, respect and honor the food and it’s lineage – or else you’re just a poser.
Great point here Chad, one in which I tried to get at but didn’t have the breadth or depth of knowledge to expound upon. “The plant world encompasses hundreds of thousands of plants that are considered edible by the human species. How many animals do we eat, not many. The range of culinary endeavors one can explore with plants blows away what one can do with animal sources”
I see a foodie as someone who seeks to eat quality ingredients prepared with care and precision. I see it less about being adventurous in terms of what foods are consumed. Ironically, I’m actually going through menus right now from an award-winning personal chef in DC. And, the menus are vegetarian. I doubt anyone would say these aren’t high-quality entrees that meet “foodie” standards because there’s no meat in them. xoxo