#Foodporn

You’re scrolling through your news feed and you see a picture of a triple-layer chocolate mousse cake, a big juicy cheeseburger, or a plate full of colorful sushi. Your mouth starts to water, and you wish that you were the one posting that picture and eating that food. Well, that’s food porn.   

 

             Instagramming food started out as a boring cliché thing to do but it’s become so much more than that. Restaurants are even getting involved. For them it’s just a great way for them to advertise to our food worshipping world. Some restaurants are even starting to reward customers for posting  pictures of their food on social media. There’s a restaurant in London called The Picture House that lets their customers pay for their food by taking a picture of it, and posting it to Instagram or Twitter. All they have to do is hashtag #PictureHouseLondon or #PictureHouseLeads with their post. The Picture House even has an in-house food photographer who gives tips on how to take pictures that make the food look more delicious and appealing.

With so many people whipping out their phones at dinner some restaurants are banning their customers from taking pictures of their meals. They say it keeps the other people at the reataurant from enjoying their meals or, that it even distracts the chef… but how would he know? He should be back in the kitchen anyway, and isn’t he just turning down free advertisement of his wonderful restaurant?

There has even been research done that proves food tastes better after Instagramming it! If all restaurants knew that, they would never ban food porn.  Researchers at Harvard University and the University of Minnesota did four experiments which proved that “rituals” such as taking a picture and posting it before eating makes it taste better. This isn’t the only way to make your food more satisfying. Anything that makes you have to wait a little longer before eating has the same effect. Whether that’s serving everyone else before yourself, giving a toast, or blessing the meal. They all make the food more satisfying. So the next you order that perfectly, browned crème-brulee take a picture- It’ll last longer.