The New York Times just alerted me to a strange trend out there in the internet world. It seems that a lot of people like to take pictures of their food and post them on blogs, flickr, what have you. The thing is, a lot of people are doing this with everything they eat. Like, at every meal, even snacks. On the one hand, it totally makes sense. There’s some good lookin’ food out there, and pretty much everybody can relate to getting excited about delicious-looking food, so the impulse to share the visual joys of food seems pretty natural. But isn’t it a little weird? I can totally get behind blogs like Fed Up With School Lunch, which documents food at a particular school. In Fed Up, pictures of food form an overall narrative, the blog makes a point, I feel enriched for having read it. But one of the things I look for in the food reform movement, and in the general awareness of food that is growing in this country, is that our attitude toward food should become less neurotic. Pictures of good food look tasty, and sometimes seeing a really delicious meal makes me want to go out and try new foods, or new recipes, but if there is one thing we shouldn’t have to obsess over, it’s food. Good food is wonderful, it should be eaten with friends, talked about, savored, remembered fondly, but maybe not compulsively photographed.
