Are we obsessed with food?

Maybe its cause I have an ED (well im pretty sure it IS cause i have an ED which is why I get annoyed with it)... but it seems like everywhere i go - its all about food.  I just can't seem to get away!

Yes I realize we all need it to survive....

but all I hear is people craving certain foods & denying themselves of it cause their on a diet (ex: ooh i want a cookie so bad... like seriously, cant you just shut up about it? either get one or dont.... i dont need to hear you whine about it), what they ate last night, their favorite dish, whats for lunch, what theyr cooking tonight, etc.
even when i turn on the radio, all i hear are food commercials.
same with tv.

Practically everyone I know is so conscious of what they eat, and most of them, espcially cause of their weight. Is it because we 'forbid' ourselves so much that people can't stop talking about food? (ex: that cookie... if they would just go and eat it, i wouldnt have to hear about it)

Not sure if this topic has any point... but i guess just wanted to vent/share my eating disordered thoughts.

I am in recovery but regardless have and probably always will think of food. The difference now is that I eat a high calorie diet and do allow treats but still there are the thoughts. I hope as I and others who focus on food/weight too much fill there lives with other things that fufill them the focus on food/weight will become less. We do live in a society focused on food/body image but there are all different extremes and when it becomes self destructive it becomes a different story. Also food is social and brings people together.

People talk about food.... that's pretty normal.   Food is a deeply visceral and social thing... a pleasure and a pastime as well as a means to purely stay alive.  We celebrate with food.  We mark special occasions with special food.  We make our loved ones their favourite foods to show them our affection.  It's an art, a science ...  a fun and fascinating subject. 

Mind you, I'd probably tell the 'cravers' and the 'cookie prevaricators' to get on with it as well.... that's just attention-seeking & fishing for compliments...  nothing more.  "I shouldn't eat the biscuit because I'm watching my weight!"... expected response is... "Oh but you're so slender already!"   Easy to hack off these people by saying "Yes, you're packing on the pounds. Best leave it alone"

 You're sensitised to food most probably because of your disordered eating problem.  You don't sound like you derive any pleasure from food but see it purely as a 'problem' - something to be wary of.  I'm sure alcoholics feel that everyone on TV is drinking beer or discussing wine... same thing.

I read an interesting article a few months ago and I wish I could remember where, but the point of it was that food is the equivalent of s*x in this particular era... there are so many taboos and rules and restrictions surrounding food and diet and eating anymore whereas 50 years ago, similar taboos, rules, and restrictions were applied to s*x and the discussion thereof, which now, at least to me, seems to be a subject anyone can discuss with anyone else and it's no more shocking than discussing the weather.

Food commercials, like the OP noted, are becoming downright p*rnographic with all the up-close shots of this glistening, gorgeous food and to show people eating it and deriving so much pleasure from, say, the 100-calorie Boston Cream Pie Yoplait Light yogurt... it's kind of creepy.

I know I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about food, and the constant flow of advertising and marketing that floods my consciousness along with that of every other American. I wonder if it is as glorified overseas as it is in the States?

Chemgirl - your post echo my thoughts exactly. From all the rules/restrictions because of food and weight, lots of people become obsessed about it.

GJ Jane -- "Yes, you're packing on the pounds. Best leave it alone" Hahaha yes I will try it next time. I better put on my joking voice though, it might almost be a tad rude.
*innocent roll eye*: but id be saying it for their own good since their so torn about the cookie.