The Foodology Collective

A literal definition:

There are several solid ideologies of what foodology is, with literal definitions found here and here. To reiterate the crux of these links, the Webster’s Third New International Unabridged Dictionary defines the word “food” as “a material consisting of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and supplementary substances (as minerals, vitamins) that is taken or absorbed into the body of an organism in order to sustain growth, repair, and all vital processes, and to furnish energy for all activity of an organism”. This definition could extend to include anything we, as humans, eat or drink over the course of our lives. The suffix “-ology” is defined as “the study of”. So, in a strictly literal sense, foodology would be defined as “the study of everything we eat and drink”, ergo, “the study of food.”

The concept of foodology, the foodologist and foodological thinking

So what does “the study of food” truly mean? This seemingly innocent phrase could be interpreted a myriad different ways, and so to fully understand what foodology is, the word “study” also deserves further scrutiny. If we again reference our dictionary, there are a plethora of definitions for the word “study”. The most applicable for our purposes of this discussion, is the one that reads: “to apply the mind to the acquirement of knowledge through reading and reflection, observation or experiment”. Digging a little deeper, if we look up the word “knowledge” in Roget’s Thesaurus we find language such as “comprehension” and “understanding.” If we compile these definitions, foodology can easily be considered not just the study of food, but a far more thorough and all-inclusive understanding about what we eat and drink, both directly and indirectly.

The foodologist thinks not only of food in terms of cooking or cuisine, but also of food as an entity that affects, and conversely is affected by, the world at large. Food involves a delightful cross-pollination of the natural, social, and behavioral sciences, and even fine art. Therefore, the discriminating individual who practices foodological thinking will not just take a tomato and say, “This is a tomato. How can I cook it?” He or she will also consider how the history and agriculture of the common tomato evolved its chemical properties, how those properties will change and interact with other food in the chosen cooking method, the economic impact of choosing one type of tomato or another, the social impacts of eating the tomato plant, and even how the tomato itself has impacted the rise and fall of empires. As you can see, the list could go on and on, ad infinitum.

The Web of Foodology. Foodology focuses not solely on the cooking of food and cuisine, but also on how the entire world is impacted by food, and conversely, how the entire world impacts what we eat. Chemistry, biology, physics, economics, politics, and art all provide, in some way, shape, or form, intersections with food and the way we eat.

A conclusion

Foodology is not just a conceptual definition, it is a lifestyle. Here we hope to share with you not only recipies of our own and from others, but also information on food, drinks, science, restaurants and all other aspects of the food world. We hope that, by reading this site, you are not only inspired to see what we are doing, but to also go out and eat in a different way.

Cheers!

The Foodology Collective Crew