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Once again we'll have to agree to agree, LunaPierCook. I did understand.

But since noodle fondling is what one chooses to make of it I pretended to not understand.

Stiff upper lip and all, you know. Carry on, carry on.

Locavore. As anyone can see there's another problem with the word - it is not anywhere as much fun to make fun of as foodie.

These are important words, LunaPierCook. Identity politics and all being important nowadays and the stuff that huge sites like Gawker are made of.

I've never been a foodie though I may have been a locavore by sheer luck of the draw without even knowing it once in a while. I could stand being called a locavore if it were said in an Italian accent but not as the word stands at present. The word needs guts and style. I won't let a word join me without guts and style held within it. Right now it yawns. The photo of the original locavore woman (I just erased "girl" which I originally wrote and thought) that Adam posted shows her as very Nice.

Meow.

Also I could stand being called a foodle for it sounds rather adorable. Foodie of course, merely sounds like a drool.

Setting aside locavore for the moment (and also setting aside any memories of the contestants on "America's Next Top Model" trying to do TV ads in Italian last night for it is the stuff nightmares are made of) I'd like to go back to "foodie" for I have a suggestion for its replacement.

Foodle.

It's a combination of fondle and noodle.

BTW, on topic, I don't like locavore, either. I do love made-up words, but I'm not overly fond of labels. But WTF do I know?

Carry on.

I kinda like vicinivore. But I just dig alliteration in general, as hokey a literary device as it is.

The problem with this discussion is now all I can hear in my head is a hip-slamming rendition of "Living La Vida Local!"

Yes, Jerzee Tomato, Nancy Reagan might have been on to something with "Just Say Lo."

As a former English major and current English teacher, I love made up words. I think they're part of the entity of language. I make up words regularly.

That being said, I agree that "locavore" sucks. I also don't like "flexitarian" or "opportunitarian." I do, contrarily, kinda like "freegan." It's somehow ridiculous enough that it doesn't offend me.

I blame foodie communities for most of those terms. I think we are responsible for creating the widespread desire to qualify and name what and how we eat. I'm still getting over my irritation with the term "foodie."

It sounds better if you say it with an Italian accent.

That way, if you see one on the street you can yell out: "Hey! Loca Voor Ey!" and everyone will be happy.

Thanks for these comments, everyone.
There's no doubt that being a more deliberate food shopper, cook and eater are profound political acts. The farm bill only comes up every five years, and we get to choose a new President every four years. But we eat a few times a day.
And when more and more eaters and farmers and food businesses detach from the anonymous food chain, the "agri-industrial complex" is left with fewer customers. The smart companies are already adjusting. Sysco, the largest food distributor in the country, is slowly retooling its warehouses and delivery vehicles and staff to not just service cross-country orders, but also to get local food to local customers. If they don't make this change, then their competitors will.