With Type II Diabetes and heart disease lined up around the drive thru at McDonalds.

In a country where most of the population is obese and still continues to eat themselves into the grave anyone who has a modicum of self-control to eat only half their entree should be lauded not derided in self-serving tones of thinly vieled "Fat-Pride".

It is really amazing how much the average American eats and how much the Average American gets served at a restaurant. Even the swankiest $200 a plate establishment puts buffet sized portions in front of a person that would be two meals in Europe or two days worth of food for a family in Somalia.

Watching people eat nowadays is like watching a twisted, unattractive version of the Roman Feast minus the binging and purging. You haven't gotten your money's worth from a restaurant until you leave, hobbling out, busting at the seems, bloated.

Maybe those well-dressed, skinny Foodies understood that eating can be more than just an exercise in consumption.

and furthermore, what are you doing in your last post if not snarking on the snarkers? geez..

"And I wish those who keep reminding us how much they dislike Salon would just go. Really. Just go. Keep your snark to yourself. We won't miss you. Go on, now. Shoo."

Dea, didn't you have this to say about Camille Paglia?

"Come on, Salon

[Read the article: Dancing as fast as she can]

[Read more letters about this article: Here]

Do we really need Paglia? She's neither funny nor insightful, and she can't write worth a damn.

And who buys her books anyway? After doing a grad school research project on Paglia's particular brand of "feminism" and reading a great deal of her work, I can't stay far enough away from her. I thought I'd give her another try with this article, but it's more of the same unreadable crap.

I'm disappointed to see the return of Paglia's unbridled venom, (unwarranted) intellectual arrogance, and self-referentiality to these pages. I won't bother to read any more of it."

I happen to agree with both your defense of the food slut (although I would have put it more mildly) and your vehement dismissal of Paglia. But you're still being hypocritical. You could argue that you were critiquing the author, not the site, but so could a lot of posters in this forum. Why shouldn't we get to complain about Salon? Sometimes it really, really sucks, like when it re-recruits Paglia, or to some people, when it pumps out (as others have said) self-referential, arguably whiney articles about the perils of journalism. We're all free to be here, and we're all free to find fault with Salon's material, so stop with that irritating "shoo" bit.

Life's A Bitch, And So Am I!

When the editor announces a shift to food-porn style writing, it's after Ann returns from a monthlong vacation. The vacation obviously came too late, since Ann had already been putting on her brave-girl face for a few months. Can anyone begrudge the editor a change in personnel? Ann's fall from grace was a long time coming.

The rockstar writer began to lose her passion and started showing frustration with editorial policy. This was followed by a passive-aggressive policy of snipping critical magazine articles, after which she was finally replaced by a passionate and inexpensive amateur with some writing skill.

Clearly Ann Bauer is no foodie - but her well-written outsider's take on the "foodie" culture creates an interesting picture of a group of people whose interests and behaviors are somewhat inscrutable to the rest of us. Foodies are like any group of absorbed fans - Trekkies, Scrapbookers, Socialites, ESPN addicts, etc, who engage in a pastime that seems shallow and uniteresting on the outside, but provides them with plenty of fun to fill up their free time.

Personally, I would rather read one of her interviews with organic produce farmers or playwrights than any of the "food porn" she so eloquently describes. Salon, why don't you publish those? Instead of writing melodramatic, self-referential articles about the difficulty of being a journalist or a writer, give us the work products of journalism and writing. Give us less autobiography and more narrative!

First of all, this is a Great piece. It is NOT just someone whining about their great job. Read it AGAIN, people. This is a story about our CULTURE, and one of the ways in which we are going WRONG. This is a story about the fetish-izing of food, the separation of food from it's function as NOURISHMENT, and the emptiness that that separation brings about. The author details the seduction (and emptiness) she herself underwent, not to COMPLAIN, but to demonstrate that she herself was not immune to, nor above seduction. Moving on, I heartily agree with the comments from others which say: I am interested in the organic pig farm, the resurgance of beets, the trendy restaurant that feeds the homeless. I would love to read these articles, and I hope Ann Bauer gets to write them for some publication. Great food writing isn't solely about food, just as great erotic writing isn't solely about isolated reproductive organs. Also, I REALLY think Harri Covert should change her name to Harri Dan. HA HA HA HA HA HA. Look it up, Harri !!!

As someone who both cooks and eats, I thoroughly enjoyed Ann Bauer's take on the business of restaurant reviewing.

She obviously hit on some sore spots, though. Let's see...some people are envious (the remark that she was "given" a house, the snarky remarks about her writing) or feel threatened by her observations about "preternaturally thin" women who barely eat a thing. Too close to home for some, I guess.

As for me, when I go to a restaurant and order a scrumptious dish, I'm eating it. I'm not going to push it around my plate, suck a bit of sauce off a couple of bites, and then pronounce that I am full while I longingly watch my fellow diners tuck in. Horse hockey.

Bauer recognizes what I've long believed: food is not only about sustenance or showing off one's good taste and credit card limit. It's an occasion to come together with other people, to enjoy the earth's bounty, have a couple glasses of wine, and hammer out the world's problems until we are all satiated with good food, good company, and good conversation.

I believe the loss of this type of communal activity to ostentatious display and snobbery is what Bauer is bemoaning, if one bothers to read between the lines.

And I wish those who keep reminding us how much they dislike Salon would just go. Really. Just go. Keep your snark to yourself. We won't miss you. Go on, now. Shoo.

I've gotta go cook something now and invite some friends over. Somebody please stop and pick up a bottle of wine (passe or not), OK?