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Food “Porn” in Media

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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics

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Gastro porn

Introduction

The term food “porn” can refer to still or moving images of food and/or eating across various media, including cookbooks, magazines, television, blogs, websites, and social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Evocative descriptions of food and eating in literature can also be described as food porn. The term is often used positively, to suggest that the food depicted is desirable or is depicted in a way that makes it desirable – the latter of which could depend on the aesthetics of composition (including lighting, extreme close-ups, color saturation) or on the person or people preparing or eating the food. While the connotation is often of “guilty pleasure,” or allowable “indulgence,” the term can also (sometimes simultaneously) negatively connote food which is regarded as “bad” and which should be avoided.

Not unlike the now-famous definition of pornography – “I know it when I see it” (uttered by Supreme Court Justice...

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Correspondence to Signe Rousseau .

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Rousseau, S. (2014). Food “Porn” in Media. In: Thompson, P.B., Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_395

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_395

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0928-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0929-4

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