Is #Foodstagram Taking Over The World?

Are you such a prolific #foodstagram poster that you get phone calls from concerned friends when you don’t upload a snap of a meal, as they’re worried you’re not eating? #Picsoritdidnthappen, right?

And when you go on holiday, it’s not photos of mesmerising Mediterranean sunsets or palm trees blowing in the breeze that you’re posting on social media, but pics of last night’s burger or your breakfast #avoontoast, yes?

If this sounds like you or someone you know, it might be reassuring to know that 28 per cent of us Brits now regularly post photos of our grub on Instagram, according to research carried out by Heathrow Airport to mark the appointment of its new Instagram Food Ambassadors – yep, that’s really a job! – Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, and the launch of its new #TastetheWorld campaign.

via GIPHY

The airport found that 27 per cent of people feel that sharing photos of their holiday food with friends and family back home – and strangers who follow them on Instagram – actually makes the trip more enjoyable.

But shouldn’t the main point of a holiday be to have a break from the daily grind, switch off from social media and make memories with loved ones, rather than show that girl you were once mates with for a few weeks at sixth form what you had for brunch?

Overall, 37 per cent of us now plan our holidays around the food that’ll be on offer, but one-third of survey respondents admitted they’d like to be able to take better photos of the grub on their plate while they’re away to make their trip even more enjoyable.

Heathrow Airport found that New York is the world’s number one #foodstagram hotspot, with visitors posting more than one million pics of the food they’ve eaten in the city that never sleeps. But when you’ve got the whole of the Big Apple to explore, do you really need to be uploading snaps of actual apples?

The infamous egg waffle ice cream cone was named as one of the most popular meals (more of a snack or dessert, technically, but these ice cream-topped waffles with piles of extras make a pretty good meal substitute) for visitors to NYC to post on Instagram, while charcoal pizza was the favourite #foodstagram item in Toronto, which was the second most popular place with #foodies on Heathrow’s list.

Other popular #foodporn items included authentic dim sum in Hong Kong, steak tartare in Paris and vaca frita con maros – this translates as ‘fried cow’, but putting that aside, it’s actually a very tasty shredded beef dish with onions, spices and a lime kick – in Miami.

In Madrid, travellers apparently can’t get enough of posting pics of fideua, which is a little bit like paella, while in Singapore, it’s all about raindrop cakes.

To be fair, if we were served a cake that looked like a bubble, we’d be straight on our phones telling everyone about it too. Even that girl from sixth form – we might not have spoken for 15 years, but this will blow her mind.

As long as you’re not letting #foodstagram take over your life and are enjoying your holidays and the food that you eat, there’s no real harm in uploading pics of your grub – maybe just wait until a quiet moment later on to post photos rather than while you’re at the table. And if #foodporn inspires you to get cooking, even better!