social media and food
has anyone ever noticed how much social media has ruined the image of food? i sometimes forget, until i'm reminded of events like this.
food vendors at festivals and vendor markets have completely lost the plot, if you ask me. seems like on facebook and tik tok, chefs are trying to one-up each other on the creation of culinary craziness. not to mention the hideous AI-generated menu and decal graphics that have an odd penchant for rendering food to look like a trypophobe's worst nightmare.
side note: i will always see gen AI as a corner-cutting measure, but i will straight-up refuse your cooking if you use AI menus. because if you're cutting corners on designing a good-looking menu, what else are you cutting corners on? the quality of your food, perhaps?
food is an art, too. but it's an art that provides us both nourishment and enrichment, and could kill us if prepared wrong. and when you're cooking food with the intent to go viral rather than provide nourishment and enrichment... what could POSSIBLY go wrong??? oh sure, you'll get chef gordon ramsay's attention... where he'll call you a donut and say you don't belong anywhere near a kitchen. i hope that clout was worth it.
and it's one thing to charge $30 for a mediocre matcha latte in an 8-cent cup from aliexpress. it's one thing to dye the cheese on a grilled cheese sandwich in rainbow colors. but the AI-generated menus make me lose my appetite. if you thought the renderings on frozen dinners were an egregious example of "picture vs. product", how about advertising food that literally does not exist?
on a more low-key example, you have the viral types of food like dubai chocolate and "slop bowls". which aren't as insane as a rainbow-colored grilled cheese... but look, if you like viral tik tok food, fine, what evs, enjoy your crazy treats. but what's wrong with an eggplant? a loaf of grain bread? a block of mozzarella cheese? orange juice? you don't have to overdo it when it comes to food, is what i'm saying. in fact, overdoing it is the last thing i'd recommend.
now doesn't that look more appetizing?
aww man, now i'm hungry...