Foodies

So in honor of my senior thesis- and a draft that is consuming my Thanksgiving break- I decided to write this post on the subject at hand: the world of the foodie. Yes, that’s right, I’m writing my senior thesis on foodies (how cool?!) and the information I’ve obtained on this culture is so interesting, especially when paired with our food class. First off, let me provide you all with a definition of a foodie (even though I can bet that all of you are foodies). A foodie is someone who loves anything from truck-stop chili to caviar. A foodie likes all classes and cuisines of foods, and is open to trying anything and everything (as long as it’s the best of its kind). In other words, foodies reject snobbery and opt for a culture of food inclusion. Unlike the dynamics of upper-class taste in the mid twentieth century, foodies are on a mission to experience all different types of food far beyond French cuisine. Further, French cuisine has been knocked off its pedestal and no longer defines upper class taste. Essentially, foodies are beginning to redefine the upper to middle class pallet of food, and the movement is evident on Colgate’s campus.

Foodies are, well, obsessed with food. That includes cooking food, blogging about food, taking pictures of food, farming food, and having an education on food. Professor Henke’s Food class is a prime example of the existence of foodie culture on Colgate’s campus. The farm internship alone would summon jealousy from any foodie. We were able to experience local food production at its purest, and gain a deeper understanding on the origin of the vegetables we eat everyday. My experience on the farm got me so interested in fresh vegetables, and enticed me to visit the farmer’s market in Hamilton for the first time since I’ve been a Colgate student (let me remind you, I’m a senior). Farming food and frequenting the farmer’s market resulted in a personal collection of beautiful fresh vegetables in my apartment, which ultimately led me to cook more than ever before. I couldn’t let such fresh produce go to waste, so I began calling my dad for recipes and checking out food blogs online for easy, tasty dinners. Because of the research I was conducting on foodies for my thesis, I recognized my new cooking and food interest behaviors as symptoms of a growing foodie. Even the few days I’ve been home for break have been consumed with foodie behaviors. I cooked a pasta primavera for my family on Sunday night, which I regrettably forgot to take a picture of but I did include the recipe I selected at the bottom of my post. I also notice my twelve-year-old sister is a foodie prodigy, along with many of her friends. She had a friend over today and the two of them baked mini chocolate lava cakes- from scratch. Thinking back to my childhood play dates certainly does not resurrect memories of gourmet desserts, so I found it amazing to see the rising foodie culture is influencing children today and that it’s presence is much stronger than it was even ten years ago when I was a kid.   

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pasta-primavera-recipe/index.html

For all those meat lovers, I highly recommend adding slice sausage to the recipe- it's a great contrast to the taste of the vegetables!