Food is the ingrdient that binds us together

The term “foodie” went mainstream several years ago, spurred I’m sure by the countless new Food Network shows, food-related reality competitions and burgeoning celebrity chef culture.
As of lately though, being a foodie has gotten a bad rap.
It’s seen as elitist, snobby and down-right ridiculous by a big chunk of the population.

But what is a foodie, really?
Technically it’s defined as, “a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food.”

But beyond an interest in food, foodies are curious.
They want to know about ingredients, about preparation, about chefs, about food-culture.
They’ll travel quite a distance, just to try a restaurant or a special dish.
And they spend their time and energy on finding great food-related experiences.

If it were up to me, everyone would self identify as a foodie.
You know why?
Not because we like to eat (which we do).
And not because we’re fascinated by food culture (which we are).

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.