Food

A Post For My Foodies

June 20, 2012 /

Dear Fellow Foodie Friends,

This is a letter for all lovers of food, food bloggers, and foodies alike. Thank you!

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all of your amazing features, adventures and recipes that you share with the blogging world everyday. My life would certainly not be the same without you.

There is so much buzz (no pun intended 😉 ) about whether or not we food bloggers are taking value away from the food industry. Whether or not we are making a laughing stock of what it is to be a food writer. Let me tell you something…

I believe that each and every one of us is providing value to the food industry. Any time that I go to a food blog and read about their trials, mistakes, and successes. It makes me happy! I am so glad to see so many people getting back in the kitchen.

With the busy world we live in today, to see the food blog community grow as it has is so phenomenal to me. I grew up eating dinner around the table every single night. My family still sits down every night to take time out of their days to talk with one another. Put away the phones, turn off the TV and actually talk with one another. We are losing that connection with all this media and technology that we have now.

Don’t get me wrong, I think technology is a great thing and it has helped so many areas of the world but I also think that sometimes we need to unplug from the world and have time for family and friends. What better way to do that then around a dinner table.

Did you know that when you are doing a million things at once and eating at the same time your body actually has no idea that it is eating? How terrible!

There have been tons of studies that show when people stop what they are doing and just eat without any distractions, besides conversation, their bodies actually digest food better and tend to be healthier and at a more stable weight.

There have also been numerous studies on the fact that a very large portion of what most Americans are putting in their bodies they don’t enjoy. Goodness! Why would you ever want to put things in your body you wouldn’t enjoy? Think of it this way…if you are driving your car, sitting at your desk and working, running from one place to another eating…you aren’t really paying attention to what you are eating, so how could you enjoy it?

Let’s face it, most Americans are on the go all the time! I am completely guilty of this. I lead a very busy lifestyle, but having a food blog helps me slow down and think about food. It helps me think about what I want to eat, what I want to make, how to make healthier choices. And that is a good thing (sorry for the awkward Martha Stewart moment).

Personally I think that if anything the food blogger community is helping get people interested in food again. Home cooked food at that! I look around and see so many people making things for their family instead of eating out…how great is that?

If anything, blogs are helping people get reacquainted with food. People are making healthier choices and deciding to stay in instead of going out because it is easier.

Think about it, how many times have you thought to yourself…I need to make a new post, what can I make that my family will like and my readers will enjoy? I constantly find myself thinking things like that.

Not only are we creating things for our family to enjoy but we have created this unique, creative, and artistic community that interacts with each other on a daily basis. So cool!

A community that is not dumbing down the food industry, but one that is adding value to how it feels to cook at home for family and friends and making more and more people interested in cooking again.

I may not have the most amazing recipes and I might not have the most fantastic photography, but I love my food blog. It is my online cookbook that has helped me meet so many amazing people.

So thank you, to all of you foodies out there for being foodies. Don’t you ever let anyone make you feel like you shouldn’t be a blogger or a cook.

The most important thing is to make sure whatever you are doing makes you happy, and if that is blogging? Never stop doing it.

Much Love & Thanks,

Raven

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53 Comments

  • Vicky

    June 20, 2012 at 11:13 am

    Great post Raven! I only started blogging recently. I do it because it’s a combination of all the things I love – cooking/baking, photography and writing. I never looked at it as taking away from the food industry. And so far everyone I’ve met in the food blogging community has been really supportive and helpful!

  • Jill Colonna

    June 20, 2012 at 11:36 am

    Very well said! We’re so much into eating at the table at home and recently the computer, blackberry – and now the Euro football on TV – are all competitors to our relaxed evening dinners, no matter how tired we are. Cheers to keeping up with this tradition, to your food blog, to sharing and to such a wonderful community!

  • LivinLovinSweet

    June 20, 2012 at 11:42 am

    Thank you for this!! I’m a fairly new foodblogger, but it really is my sweet escape for the hustle and bustle of life. I wish everyone would have an outlet like this, whether it’s blogging or doing something else.

  • sprint2thetable

    June 20, 2012 at 12:21 pm

    This is one of the most thoughtful posts I’ve seen in a while. Totally agree!!! Food is so much more than meets the eye – its a social expression of friendship, love, and nurturing.

  • Melissa @ Treats With a Twist

    June 20, 2012 at 1:06 pm

    Thank you and it is absolutely true. I think technology can be addicting and out of control, but I also think that the abundance of food writing has inspired a new love of culinary adventures in the simplest of kitchens. I think that people have been wanting to do and try new things and when they read about it through someone else’s accounts, they feel more inspired to do it! I love helping people try new and healthier recipes every day!

  • Katy @ HaveYouHurd

    June 20, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    You don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to tweet something like “THANK YOU ALL THE FOOD BLOGGERS FOR MAKING MY LIFE BETTER”! Seriously though. I have a food blog too and while I have no where near a zillion page views each day, the fact that I can share my foodie ups and downs is awesome. Honestly, even if I didn’t have a blog myself I’d be perfectly content just being able to read all the amazing blogs out there today. I’ve been introduced to new cookings styles, new foods, & new people and it’s all a click away. I don’t have a ton of hardcore foodie real life friends so it’s nice to know that other people are obsessed with food like meeeee 🙂

  • Carrie's Experimental Kitchen

    June 20, 2012 at 2:14 pm

    Excellent post Raven! Many of us food bloggers write for ourselves, our friends, our families and if others see it and love it, that’s FANTASTIC! But if they don’t, that’s ok too. Like Katy mentioned above, I have also been introduced to so many other styles of cooking from different parts of the country, and the world for that matter, that I would never have known before. Growing up there wasn’t much talk about gastronomy, The Food Network or other televised chefs (besides Julia Child that I can think of and no one I knew ever watched it) and I went to a culinary school not that long ago. 🙂 I personally don’t think we’re taking away from the food industry. In fact, those people on tv are “unapproachable” to the everyday home cook. Whereas a food blogger is generally someone they can talk to online, ask a question AND get a personal response the same day. I am proud to call myself a food blogger and if I can help one person solve their meal dilemma, then I’m happy. So keep up the good work everyone! 🙂

  • CUcina49

    June 20, 2012 at 5:15 pm

    What a well-written post! Technology is definitely not always conducive to good conversations, but I really value blogging and the sharing of ideas.

  • Gina

    June 21, 2012 at 12:15 am

    I’m so glad you and your family still sit down for dinner. I grew up the same way and I couldn’t imagine not cooking most nights. I try and take at least one night a week off though. I think the mainstream food media is the opposite of bloggers, they try and do something homogenous that may appeal to most people, whereas I only try and please one tough critic (cough, cough) lol. I look forward to reading, I still learn things everyday. Don’t ever quit, I don’t know what I’d do without you.
    -Gina-

  • Tara

    June 22, 2012 at 9:35 am

    I could not agree with you more! Our family ALWAYS sat down to dinner every night…even if it meant dinner was at 8:00 (sports practice, dance, music, etc.) and I’m making sure I continue this tradition with my own family now. It’s so unbelievably important. Sad how many families today aren’t doing this. And yes, I think the blogging community is making an impact! My own blog is so new and such a total work in progress (I’m hoping to change that soon) but I’m having such a fun time learning new techniques, recipes, you name it! There’s a whole lot more out there than the Betty Crocker cookbook I grew up with:)

  • skiptomalou

    June 22, 2012 at 11:34 pm

    very well said and i am with you 100%. we food bloggers should give ourselves a pat on the back for the commitment in sharing our food, stories and recipes. I love being in the food blogging community and it’s because of people like you Raven! I’m glad to have “met” you!
    xoxo,
    Malou

  • Beth Michelle

    June 24, 2012 at 6:15 am

    I couldnt have said it better myself!! The food blogger community is wonderful and I think it’s amazing that people are getting in the kitchen and cooking for their families!

  • C&C Cakery

    June 25, 2012 at 11:25 am

    What a darling you are! And, believe it or not, I love when I get to be a laughing stock of the food writer’s world. But in a good way, of course 🙂

  • The Scrumptious Pumpkin

    June 26, 2012 at 3:55 pm

    Great post! My husband and I have made the switch from eating dinner in front of the tv to eating outside at the table on our porch (since the weather became warm enough) – it’s made such a difference!

  • Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

    June 26, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    What a great post! I completely agree with everything you said. Family meals are so important, and getting home cooked meals is so much better than eating at restaurants all the time. If one post can make someone cook something at home they normally wouldn’t, then I think we are a success.

  • Liz

    June 26, 2012 at 7:37 pm

    What a wonderful post! So many of my friends do not even cook, so I agree with the hope that food bloggers can get folks interested in making meals again! I need to work on eating without multitasking…thanks for the reminder…I love food too much not to focus on what I’m eating!!! Hope you’re having a lovely week~

  • Jennie

    June 27, 2012 at 10:16 am

    This is such a great post. I have to agree with you. I think food bloggers are contributing great things to the food community and, honestly, if it weren’t for food and the wonderful writing of food bloggers, I’d be one lost soul.

  • Gerry @ Foodness Gracious

    June 28, 2012 at 5:28 pm

    I’m so glad I came across this post, though I’m not sure why I’m not subscribed to your awesome blog!..helloo I’ll fix that after this comment! Personally I trust bloggers more than I trust corporations. We as bloggers are getting down and dirty in our kitchens for very little notoriety and certainly not a wage of an editor or executive chef, but we do it cause we are passionate about food and if you can’t trust passion, what can you trust? I also agree about slowing down. I had this conversation recently with my daughter who was itching to leave the dinner table. I explained to her how at her age (7) I never sat at a dinner table and how I always promised myself that would never happen when I had my own family. Luckily the kids like it and we always have a good time while eating…including spills 😉 Sorry for the ramble..