Om Nom Nom. Ugh.

A field guide to food bloggers.

By RUTH BROWN

Portland's food blogosphere is mercifully small. In bigger cities, thousands of self-proclaimed "foodies" wield an unhealthy amount of power over the culinary economy, tending to cutely titled blogs full of sponsored posts, gushy rants and Instagram photos. Thankfully, in Portland such things are left in the hands of professionals—people who paid their dues writing about how to snap someone's arm, passing a Torts exam, typing the Tulane-Southern Miss volleyball score for The Oregonian's sports section and drawing cartoons for The Mercury.

Except this week, when the city will be festering with food bloggers as Portland plays host to the International Food Bloggers Conference. Hundreds will descend to listen to inspiring talks like "How Bloggers, PR Pros and Brands Can Best Work Together" and "It's Not Selling Out, It's Getting Paid," and practice the storied art of taking grainy pictures on a smartphone and uploading them to Tumblr.

In fact, one could be sitting at a communal table next to you right now. Here's a field guide to spotting some of the more common species in the wild.


The Globetrotter

Likes:
Dislikes:
 
Expect to see them at:
Listen for:


The PR Whore

Likes:
Dislikes:
Expect to see them at:
The highest bidder.
Listen for:


The Vegan

Likes:
Acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein; quinoa; ultimate Frisbee; every single vegan restaurant ever.
Dislikes:
Expect to see them at:
Listen for:
sure


The Amateur Scientist

Likes:
Dislikes:
Expect to see them at:
Listen for:


The Food Pornographer

Likes:
Dislikes:
Words.
Expect to see them at:
Listen for:
 

GO: The International Food Bloggers Conference is at the DoubleTree Hotel, 1000 NE Multnomah St., Aug. 24-26. $350. Visit foodista.com/ifbc2012 for more info.

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.