Modernity Natural/Social Sciences Starke 1 Johnston and Baumann / Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape

Jose Johnston and Shyon Baumann Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape
Date published: 2010

Synopsis: This cultural analysis presents food as both a tool of democracy as well as social distinction. Important Points: Being a foodie isnt just about consuming good food; its about garnering cultural capital. o Like gourmet, the term foodie has taken on connotations that may be seen as positive or negative. We want to identify as consumers with refined and educated palates, yet we do not want to be accused of snobbery. Ideas about what is acceptable to eat have become more inclusive. The modern foodie is described as a cultural omnivore. o Despite the celebration of variety, not all foods are valued equally and not all forms of consumption are considered legitimate. o Does the rise in omnivorous food choices reveal a shift toward greater social inclusion and an ideology of meritocracy, or does it retain exclusionary tendencies and reproduce status hierarchies?

Eating Authenticity: o Shifting away from a historical preference for French food, foodies now prefer food that is authentica quality that may be associated with multiple culinary traditions. Why is authenticity so valued? o How does it work for diners and cultural consumers to provide them with the kind of aesthetic experience they enjoy?

The authors argue that authenticity is not inherent to foods. It is a social construct, built upon the perceptions of food producers and consumers in relation to other foods. It is also relative to a specific viewpoint. Food may be understood as authentic when it has geographic specificity, is simple, has a personal connection, and can be connected to a historical tradition. While authenticity is clearly used as a means to achieve distinction, especially since authenticity often connotes rarity and expense, the desire for authenticity in food choices also reflects a critique of a globalized industrial food system which produces profound diner alienation.

Johnston, J., & Baumann, S. (2010). Foodies: Democracy and distinction in the gourmet foodscape . New York: Routledge.

Modernity Natural/Social Sciences Starke 2 Johnston and Baumann / Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape
The Culinary Other: Seeking Exoticism o We understand exoticism as food that is socially distant, and strikingly unusual or norm-breaking. o An interest in exotic food is often used to signal high status. However, could there be a possibility that eaters are simply becoming more cosmopolitan? Again, exotic foods could be understood as part of the same tension between the competing ideologies of democracy/inclusion and status/exclusion. Foodies are not necessarily interested in all of the worlds cuisines to an equal degree, which suggests that weakly exotic food plays a large role in determining high-status foods.

Culinary Classlessness o Although gourmet cuisine is produced by a transnational labor force, a very small percentage of the global population, and a minority of the American population, have the economic and cultural resources to consume gourmet culture. o Culinary media create a sense of classlessness and normalize class inequality, thus creating a highly segregated food system. Through romanticizing poverty Through maintaining the equality of inequality, where poverty and wealth, and their associated eating habits, are posited as relatively equal Through the emergence of ordinary elites, where the material privilege and spatial mobility of elite global gourmets is trivialized and normalized. Does there exist a gourmet foodscape with limited barriers to access?

Public Spaces and Food Politics o Do gourmet foodscapes offer foodies the chance to engage in a new cultural politics of public spaces? o What is the relationship between gourmet foodscapes, commodification and private property? Elite restaurants, gourmet coffee chains, and natural food emporiums such as Whole Foods shape gourmet foodscapes, but what are the implications of these being consumption spaces of private property, designed to maximize sales and corporate profits? Can the gourmet foodscape encourage the formation of a more reflexive relationship with food, its producers, and its ecological underpinnings? Or do they enforce the symbolic boundaries that justify and legitimize inequality?

The authors argue that WFM represents a commodified public space, a central element of the American gourmet foodscape. Commodified public spaces problematize the neat division between public and private, but recognize the central place of

Johnston, J., & Baumann, S. (2010). Foodies: Democracy and distinction in the gourmet foodscape . New York: Routledge.

Modernity Natural/Social Sciences Starke 3 Johnston and Baumann / Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape
the market in defining public spaces in late capitalist urban centers. These spaces are presented as open and accessible to consumers, and may even incorporate critical voices and perspectives, but they are designed to maximize consumption, build brand loyalty, and expand the market share of the corporation.

Consuming Gourmet Culture: Talking with Foodies o This chapter is based on interviews with gourmets and foodies, exploring the motivations and meanings for those participating in gourmet food culture. How do foodies understand the gourmet food culture? o Food culture can simultaneously serve as a source of distinction for gourmets, and a locus of politicization and democratization impulses that value an increasing range of culinary traditions, and encourage increased reflexivity about food choice.

Notes:

Food can serve as a partial, imperfect, but significant entry-point for a more reflexive and critical relationship to consumer culture.

How did the omnivorous foodie emerge?

Johnston, J., & Baumann, S. (2010). Foodies: Democracy and distinction in the gourmet foodscape . New York: Routledge.