I totally understand the foodie backlash, but let's get some perspective on it. The problem is not with people who are obsessed with food. The problem is with pretentious, condescending jerks. Someone who spends months scouting out a fascinating new restaurant isn't a problem; the problem comes when he brags about it to everyone at work the next day, and takes great care to act surprised they haven't heard of the place.
Just like any hobby, a fascination with high-end food can be extremely irritating to those people who don't share the enthusiasm. I have known model train enthusiasts, saltwater aquarium specialists, and hard-core video game fanatics who are all every bit as annoying as the imagined foodies who are the targets of (e.g.) this Huffington Post article.
Part of the problem here is with the complainers, though. If one of your Instagram friends keeps posting pictures of food, and you are not interested in pictures of food, you have two very good options here: unfollow them, or just scroll past the picture of food without letting it get to you. A revolutionary idea, I know!
Now it is true that, as a rule, people like taking pictures of their food more than people like seeing other people's pictures of food. And lord knows there are a lot of hideous food pictures out there. But personally, I like to see what people are eating. I find it interesting. If you don't, then just keep walking. It's that simple.
But let me turn and address my fellow foodies and say, you guys need to tone it down a little. When talking to someone who's not super into food the way we are, just change the subject. Don't berate someone else's food choices, don't name-drop chefs and restaurants, and don't brag about what you ate. As a general rule, non-foodies don't care about this stuff, and you're only making the rest of us look bad.
Image courtesy Flickr/ccho
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