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Julia,

I am fascinated by the question you introduced, about whether it matters that we are aroused by food as opposed to what generally arouses us (sex)? This really got me thinking, especially since we recently covered arousal in my psychology class. To answer your question, then, I will post here a summary of what a psychology textbook says on the issue. There is nothing that is it "like" to be aroused (that is why arousal of food and sex is so hard to express in common language). Arousal is simply a brain state, namely a neural interaction that activates, or "arouses" the nucleus accumbens-- the brain's "pleasure center." Whether we eat a tantilizing meal or engage in vigorous sex, our brain does not know the difference. All it knows is that there is something, someone or some activity, that has sent the "arousal" horomore to our nucleus accumbens. So, to reiterate, it is difficult to express arousal because there is no way to understand the brain state of arousal. Studies by psychologists interested in the issue have been done to show that a lesion of the nucleus accumbens rids a person of feeling pleasure or being aroused, be it by food or sex. This explaination goes to show that this why we can be aroused in so many ways--intellectually, physically, and mentally. All arousal exists in one portion of our brain, so it just a question of how we want to arouse ourselves.