Stop Saying Foodie

In the Jan-Feb issue of Saveur magazine, Editor Adam Sachs makes a plea to which I can relate…”Stop Saying Foodie.” While his divergent rant about the label being both self-infantilizing and elitist may seem at odds with itself in some manner it brought to mind an epiphany I had during this last year.

Alysia and I were in Cuenca, Ecuador, in an indigenous marketplace (Mercado 9 de Octubre) eating a late lunch comprised of a huge plate of roast pork with thinly sliced onions and hominy when the term, frequently used in our home environs of the Pacific Northwest of the USA, “farm to table” popped into my head. My first thought, “My now, this is really farm to table!” was immediately followed by “What a ridiculous concept in this time and place.” The truth is that these people, in this culture, have been sourcing their food locally and eating this way for centuries, maybe millennia.

I bet Ecuadorian Dollars to doughnuts that if one could adequately explain the concept of farm-to-table to the natives of this region the comment would be the cultural equivalent to, “Duh…this is how it’s done, stupid!”
Like the chef Hugh Acheson that Mr. Sachs mentions, I resolve to not be so OCD about my omelets in the future. I think I had already reached that point when I caught myself thinking a few days back, “sometimes I like a simple egg sandwich with mayo”. No need to try to find and apply the 4 kinds of mustard that I have in the fridge, or three kinds of cheese that could go on the sandwich to make it “something special”. The sandwich is already special because I’m hungry, right?  And I resolve to think about my food as though it should be farm to table, not that that’s something special…
And so how does this relate to Gary Dawson Jewelry Design and custom jewelry? I see a connection to one of my last blog posts, “Sell Out, or Challenge the Concept”, posted on December 8th, 2015. In that post I make a point that although some folks may think of me as a “sellout” for making simple bands, I think I’m ahead of the game because I’m doing what I love to do, make jewelry.  Or in the case of being in the kitchen, preparing my own food!
I love to cook, to which any frequent reader of my blog will attest! So Bravo Mr. Sachs for bringing a more down-to-earth perspective to another of the things that make me, well, me!  I feel like you got my back on this one so I’m returning the favor.  Not before I share one last foodie pic though!