Is Instagram Ruining Food?

Instagram is changing the world of food one trend at time.  Outrageous concoctions of oozing, artery clogging goodness have taken over Instagram as foodies, influences, and everyone in between seek out extreme, beautiful food in the “do it for the likes” mantra.  Products like milkshakes topped with whole pieces of cake (thanks BlackTap), pizza topped with little pizza slices (oh hey Vinnies), and edible cookie dough (I too waited in a 45 minute line for this) blow up the internet.  Hype forms, leading to massive lines, high prices, happy posters and drooling followers.   

But is this a good thing?

On the one hand, this gives little store fronts the chance to thrive.  If the right accounts post a picture of a rainbow bagel stuffed with cream cheese framed by the Brooklyn bridge in the background, thousands of people might see it resulting in crazy demand spikes as lines form down the sidewalk. (Keep an eye out for Bak’d cookies and follow their social media journey…. I’m guessing they will explode).  Esteemed food critics and formal news coverage are no longer needed to spread the word, and all restaurants have the opportunity to boom and profit as creativity gets the ultimate reward: thousands of likes.  AKA cash in the pocket.   

On the other hand, is Instagram ruining food?

Presentation matters, but taste matters more.  Great food has fresh ingredients, complex spices, a variety of textures, and unique flavor combinations created by the careful hands of skilled chefs.  Those things don’t always translate to a photo. I have had had quite a few Instagram famous dishes, and I am usually left feeling underwhelmed and robbed of time and money due to  the exorbitant costs and lengthy wait times for products like the Dominque Ansel cookie shot and Smorgasburg Ramen Burger (check out my review of Smorgasburg HERE).  You can’t tell me that quality isn’t sacrificed in terms of ingredients and preparation in order to successfully funnel the masses through and maximize profits.  This age of social media encourages restaurants and cafes to focus on creating a pretty exterior with taste being a byproduct. 

The worst part is that if you’ve waited in line and shelled out $16 for something that looks great but tastes average, you’ll still post the photo. 

I know because I do it. 

If I would have bashed the galaxy Duchess cookie or Ramen Burger on IG, that post would have never been shared or reposted.  If I have a kick ass photo that is going to get tons of likes and comments even though it tasted bad, I’m going to post it. I ease my mind by posting more in depth reviews on the story, but obviously that’s a bit of a cop out.

Here Are Some Examples:

World’s Best Cookie Dough has an Instagram famous cookie pull. But it’s actually just a $5 glob of sugar. Click HERE for the best New York mega cookies that are actually worth while.

Sometimes there’s really amazing food just isn’t photogenic.

For example, this Ethiopian dinner was incredible, but it was next to impossible to get a good picture as seen below!

So is Instagram ruining food?

At the end of the day, Instagram is just an app and can’t be responsible for a crime as large as ruining food.

I think the solution lies in the hands of the restaurants to maintain food quality and, more importantly, in the hands of us bloggers to be honest about taste.  Reshaping the hype to be over radical, inventive flavors and deft cooking techniques as oppose to outrageous ideas dependent on shock value and a good photo will push the food industry towards quality culinary outputs. 

Let’s start putting flavor over photo, one meal at a time!