Omnivore - The ‘pomposity and sermonizing’ of foodies
A curmudgeon looks at the weird world of obsessed eaters
Every social movement produces a backlash and the cult of foodies is no exception. Perhaps the most curmudgeonly and thought-provoking critique I’ve ever read is in the March issue of The Atlantic. It’s B. R. Myers’ tirade entitled, “The Moral Crusade Against Foodies: Gluttony dressed up as foodie-ism is still gluttony.”
The essay is every bit as hyperbolic and sermonizing as the foodie movement he attacks, but it is nonetheless a great read. I note that Eater snarkly says that Myers takes 3,700+ words to describe his dislike of foodies. Yes, Myer’s essay belongs to the genre of “longform writing,” but that’s part of what makes it such a wonderful read. It is far more than simply an expression of dislike. It looks at recent relevant books and their authors, going into great depth about the moralism that often substitutes for ethics among foodies, to say nothing of the elitism of the weird.
It’s difficult to pick a single sample from the essay, but here’s one I thought particularly cool, considering my interest in the relationship of food and spirituality: