Foodies Unite!

As our blogs come to an end, so does my time deeply analysing Instagram; and because this is Instagram I am dealing with, I inevitably at some point must discuss food photography. Whether we love it or hate it, it empowers those of us who call themselves 'foodies', and makes the rest of our mouths water. 'Taste' is both a physical and social concept (Atkins & Bowler), and food photography on Instagram appeals to both aspects. 

According to Atkins & Bowler (2001, p.272) our tastes are partly due to "our socially-derived desire for our consumption habits to show us in the best light." In short, if you post a carefully composed and filtered photograph of our smoked salmon and quinoa salad on Instagram, you are seen as flaunting your individual gastronomic choice, skills in the kitchen or that you are otherwise not light on cash, and that you have a healthy diet. Underneath all of this though is a lot of power play; posting it means that you are trendy, and gives you power over people who like to indulge, or don't have enough time to be preparing lavish meals, to make them feel less trendy, less healthy and have less social standing. Food can be either a source of pride or shame (Kuttainen, 2015), and while you are feeling proud about that salad, someone else is feeling shame about their mac & cheese. 

This shame-mongering is also in a way a parallel to the multinational food companies in the bottleneck of Patel's (2007) model. Just like these particular companies have a great deal of control and power over what we eat and what we have access to in supermarkets, Instagram food photography has a power over us that influences our taste physically in that we crave that melon sorbet that just came across our feed, and socially in that we are motivated to take up a more healthy lifestyle to match those we see on every second account. 

References:

Alana, K. (2012). Instagram & Co.: The Mobile Era of Food Photography. Retrieved from https://www.finedininglovers.com/stories/food-photography-tips-mobile/ 

Atkins, P. & Bowler, I. (2001). The Origins of Taste. In Food In Society. New York: Oxford University Press 

Kuttainen, V. (2015). Food Networks [Lecture Slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au  

Patel, R. (2007). Introduction. In Stuffed and Starved. Melbourne: Black Inc.