The Problem With Food Porn

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According to psychologist Susan Albers, “Like the sexual kind, food porn allows us to lust after taboo things” Food porn is something proliferated in the modern society with the help of social media and a term casually thrown in day-to-day conversations, but where did it really come from?

In Anne E. Mcbride’s article in Gastronomica, a journal on food and culture, she compiled the different explanations and definition of food porn. There was a forum held to discuss the term food porn. Food porn means: “a) it is porn when you don’t do it but watch other people do it; (b) there is something unattainable about the food pictured in magazines or cooked on tv shows; (c) there is no pedagogical value to it; (d) it hides the hard work and dirty dishes behind cooking; (e) there is something indecent about playing with food when there is so much hunger in the world” (McBride, 38-46).

For Chris Cosentino, a chef, food porn is the ability of food to create a positive and euphoric reaction, as well as making others want the food that you have or you’re eating. It’s more than being ordinary. It is said that food porn is not just what we see in magazines or on television but also the experience of dining. Food porn has a way of captivating people (McBride, 38-46).

According to Mc Bride’s research, the idea of food porn was already present during the ancient Roman days. During that time, huge feasts were held with vomitori, to make you vomit the food that you already had eaten so you could get and eat more food. Oysters and bee pollen were known as great old examples of this. This practice shows opulence and decadence during this time.

The term food porn appeared first in 1979, Michael Jacobson labeled...

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...s help reduce stress and help you sleep better therefore keeping you looking and feeling younger throughout the years. The happy feeling one has after a good work out and the many benefits, especially the noticeable changes in one’s physical appearance, also increase one’s confidence and self-esteem.

Works Cited

"Food Porn." Foodbrothel. N.p., 9 May 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. .

Mc Bride, Anne. "Food Porn."Gastronomica 10.1 (2010): 38-26. Print.

O'Rourke, Theresa. "The Food Porn Problem." Women's Health Magazine Sep. 2012: 78-81. Print.

Stone, Rachel Marie. "Lusting After Asparagus?: Our Culture's Food Porn Problem." Christianity Today. N.p., 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 27 Jan. 2014. .

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