001. "Foodies" and "Vegans"

Hey guys, my name is Dylan Andersen, and I'm a Junior here at State, and I should have taken this class a while ago, but am just now getting around to it. I'm an English Education major, and am enjoying the program so far. I live in Colma, which some of you that aren't from around here might not know about, but if you get some free time, visiting here is a must. I wanted to write my first blog and maybe a few others about the interestingness and popularity of “vegans” and “foodies” in 2012.

   I wanted to write my first blog entry about some groups of people that are interesting to me. We're living in this digital age - we hear about it incessantly in school and especially on television - and people that love food are especially interested in the new way of communicating. Through my years of college, I've come into contact and became friends with many people who consider themselves to be "foodies". These are, as I like to define them, people who are frequent Yelp reviewers, self-proclaimed food aficionados, and in general people that obsess over the next great restaurant. They're not "bad" people by any means, but getting to know foodies - if you're not already a foodie yourself - can become a bit cumbersome and maybe even difficult. If you're not already following your foodie friend on Yelp, then they'll make you create an account and start reading their "works of art" one by one. The Bay Area is a breeding ground for these kinds of people, as we have some great restaurants and areas to explore - most notably in the Peninsula. We have also launched some of the most successful "foodie contributing businesses" like Yelp and OpenTable. But that's not all. We have also created the second generation of foodies here in the Bay Area, who call themselves "vegans".

These vegans are people who follow a vegetarian lifestyle but also abstain from dairy products, other products that were made by a company that takes part in fair trade agreements, and even products containing gelatin, as these were harmful to fish. Being vegan isn't just about being a "foodie 2.0" - they take the Yelp obsession to new heights with rating which vegan-friendly (or "V friendly" as they call it) restaurants are the best. You can find a vegan any day of the week at any Cafe Gratitude or Herbivore in San Francisco. Cafe Gratitude and its related restaurants haven't been without drama and controversy, but we'll save that for a future entry. Stores like Whole Foods have relied on vegan and vegetarian customers to make up a big part of their revenue and sales, and find ways to even cater to them by introducing and bringing particular products to market. With that being said, I am in no way making the case against being a vegan or vegetarian - in fact, it has been proven that such a lifestyle promotes longevity in life and overall healthiness.

   Now that we are in 2012, an argument can be made about the seismic shift in the vegan community towards a more mainstream appeal bordering on "hipster". Again, we'll leave that discussion for a future blog. I am also planning on taking a tongue-in-cheek approach to the blogs, so please don't be offended! It's all in good fun and this is all obviously my own opinion.