Food began simply as a necessity. Our ancestors worked most of the day to obtain food; they hunted and farmed. When they did, it was often eaten raw or cooked with simple techniques; they did not waste time seasoning or decorating. When the morning came, they had to go gather food again in order to survive. To our ancestors, no articulate décor or flamboyancy did exist. Food to them was no hobby; therefore, term “foodie” was an extravagance that they could not afford. With the general improvement of the quality of life of human society, people have come to see food as more than just a source of energy and now consider it a source of enjoyment. This newfound ability to enjoy food has produced different food industries, which cater, respectively, to the wealthy and to the poor.
Today, many programs featured on the Food Channel are not necessarily programs that involve teaching the viewers how to cook but rather focus on entertaining the audience. When cooking shows were first introduced, interesting competitive shows like Hell’s Kitchen or Top Chef did not exist. What existed back then where instructional cooking shows where people merely learned about the food and were given recipes to cook. Julia Child’s cooking show exemplifies the cooking show trend back then; she was entertaining however, but she rather gave more emphasis on the food and how to cook it rather than presenting it as if it were an athletic competition. In contrast to Julia Child’s cooking show, Iron Chef America emphasize on the entertainment of the viewers. In his article, Michael Pollan said, “There are no recipes to follow; the contests fly by much too fast for viewers to take in any practical tips; and the kind of cooking practiced in prime time is far more spectacular than anything you would ever try at home. No, for anyone hoping to pick up a few dinnertime tips, the implicit message of today’s prime-time cooking shows is, Don’t try this at home,” pointing out that all we get in return from watching competition based cooking show is purely entertainment (4). Similar to the a cooking shows, we can find another evidence that more people now consider food as a source of enjoyment by looking at the increasing number of cookbooks being published, numerous restaurant reviews, and websites where people post their review on restaurants such as yelp.com. Since people think of food as an enjoyment they began to desire better food experience for same amount of money and time. According to International Association of Culinary Professionals, the number of cookbook published is increasing and the category of cookbooks is increasing as well (19). Also, the increased number of restaurant reviews and restaurant reviewing websites demonstrate how more people expect something more than a food itself in a restaurant and how they want to get better food experience out of same amount of money and time. Thus New trends found on Food Channel and increasing number of cook book published and reviews effectively display how food is becoming primarily a source of entertainment.
As the average family income has increased throughout history, more people have found food as source of enjoyment and this new trend led to the birth of different food industries that cater to certain socioeconomic status. However, an expensive meal is not always the best meal; some of the best meals come from not only from a fancy, five star restaurants, but also ordinary homes and country restaurants. If we could only get good food from fancy restaurants, not many people would ever be able to experience good food. Back in high school, I volunteered at my church to go feed homeless people, helped at a soup kitchen downtown and went on a few to homeless mission trips for the homeless. Every time I worked at these places, I found homeless people enjoying their food. As if they were in a nice restaurant, they would put a napkin down on their laps and consume their meal with dignity and happiness. They amazed me because the food that they were being served was not appetizing to me at all. I highly doubted that any wealthy people could have a great time eating a meal from a soup kitchen. Different foods have developed to satisfy the desires of wealthy people. Wealthy people have more money and time to incorporate into their food experience; therefore, there restaurants exist that are located where a great view is found, featuring exquisite service and elegant décor, and serving exorbitantly priced dishes. In contrast, restaurants exist that suit middle-class foodies – with moderate décor featuring with more affordably priced dishes such as Long Horns Steak House, Chilies, Ruby Tuesday, and T.G.I Friday’s. They may not have the absolute best service but enough to satisfy the need of middle-class people; to them, going to a fancy restaurant that designed for people with higher socioeconomic status may worsen their dining experience. First, middle-class people do not often have as much time to spend enjoying food like wealthy people and second, costly dishes that they cannot afford will not likely please them. Lastly, restaurants exist that are designed to please people with a lower socioeconomic status, who often do not have time and money to spare for any fancy food. Fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Wendy’s and Taco Bell are in this category. Increased income per capita in modern times has brought changes in the perception of food; it also has brought about the rise of different food industries designed to please foodies in different socioeconomic status.
The relationship between socioeconomic status and foodies not only stopped at bringing about different food industries and changes in the perception of food, but also caused a different dietary pattern among people. Food is no longer scarce; hardly any one dies because of lack of food in developed countries, rather they often die from too much food in modern time. As the importance of eating healthy has been constantly being emphasized by the media, many people have changed their focus from the enjoyment of food to eating more healthier way. To satisfy this desire of people, grocery chains offering fresh and organic produce such as The Fresh Market, Whole Food Market, Fresh Field, and Trader Joe’s have been created. They are often referred to as upscale grocery chains, which means it is difficult for people with lower socioeconomic status to shop from. An article from prevention suggested that organic vegetables and fruits contain up to 40% more disease-fighting antioxidants than the non-organic and that milk from cows raised organically contain up to 80% more healthful compounds than milk from traditionally raised cows (“The Organic Advantage” 1-4). According to the research of U.S. Department of Health & Human Science, disparities exist between obesity and socioeconomic status. In one article, women of the lower class were said to be 50 percent more likely to be obese than those of higher classes (Office of General Surgeon 42-44). People in lower socioeconomic status have no time or money to spare for pricey fresh organic produce; instead they stick to fast food restaurants. Frequently consuming fast food can be absolute detrimental to our health. In the article Fast Food Consumption Among Young Adults Leads to Weight Gain and Insulin Dependence, the author clearly warns about the habitual consumption of fast food by saying, "A new study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) discovered that young adults who frequently eat at fast food restaurants gain more weight and have a greater increase in insulin resistance in early middle age" (National Institute of Health News 1-3). People in the higher class are having a healthier diet by consuming organic produce and other healthier food while lower class people eat unhealthy fast food. As we can see, there clearly exist a different dietary pattern among people with different socioeconomic classes.
Lately, more and more people became wealthy that food is no longer scarce. The time period of eating merely to survive came to an end. Now, people began to recognize food as something that entertains them. This trend increased the people’s access to cooking and brought about the birth of athletic competition like food programs. It also caused the different food industries to emerged, aimed to maximize the enjoyment of people with different socioeconomic classes. Lastly, all these changes have brought about a different dietary pattern among people of different classes where the wealthy tend to be healthier than the poorer ones because the wealthier ones can afford organic produce rich in nutrients and have time to actually cook themselves while the poorer people rely on fast food which often causes obesity and heart disease to habitual consumers. From all of this, it can be said that the higher-class people have advantage of becoming a foodie than lower class people because they have more time and money, important factors to become a foodie. However, since the most important requirement to become a foodie is one’s love towards food, anyone who loves food can become a foodie. It is clear that lower class people cannot afford to experience what the wealthy do; but, the enhanced economy and advance of technology made food more accessible to everyone and also provided different ways for people in different socioeconomic status to enjoy food within their ability. Therefore, being a “foodie” should not be thought of as a novelty that only belongs to higher class people.
Work Cited
"Fast Food Consumption Among Young Adults Leads to Weight Gain and Insulin Dependence." Today's Chiropractic 34.2 (2005): 10. Alt HealthWatch. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
International Association of Culinary Professionals. Press office. 17 Sept. 2009.
National Institute of Health News. Eating at Fast-food Restaurants More than Twice Per Week is Associated with More Weight Gain and Insulin Resistance in Otherwise Healthy Young Adults. 30 Dec. 2004.
Office of Surgeon General. The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity. 11 Jan. 2007.
Pollan, Michael. “Our of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch.” New York Times Online 29 July 2009. 25 Oct. 2009.
“The Organic Advantage." Prevention 60.5 (2008): 71. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.
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