Since the pandemic, food content has shifted from restaurant recommendations to home cooking. The replacement of eating out with eating in is testimony to the fact that people are looking for inspiration and recipes that they can easily recreate at home without a culinary degree. Recipe videos are ridiculously abundant on social media sites, but there are concerns that the content being produced is having adverse effects on eating habits. Ethan Pancer, a professor of psychology, and his colleagues from the University of Saint Mary in Halifax, Canada conducted research that claimed that fast food is the one that is found most attractive. They state the reason for this is that humans are biologically prepared to look for caloric foods which will provide the most energy. So even if we are telling ourselves to eat healthy, our brains will naturally steer towards that burger, (and that’s not our fault!).
So even if we are telling ourselves to eat healthy, our brains will naturally steer towards that burger.
Food influencers are also responsible for trends we see in the food industry, such as the rise of plant-based diets and gluten-free eating. Social media has made the world significantly smaller, with diverse content displaying the multitude of cuisines which can readily be made at home. Restaurants have also increasingly hopped on the social media bandwagon, displaying their products digitally to receive exposure in order to prevent them being left behind.
There are a huge range of food influencers out there, each displaying unique content. From culinary experts, to “day in the life” regulars, here are some of my favorite foodies who consistently deliver delicious (and entertaining!) content:
@burntbuttertable on Instagram
With one of the most aesthetically pleasing Instagram feeds I have seen in a while, burntbuttertable is mainly a food photography account, with some pasta tutorials and recipes scattered in. This account may not a true reflection of what home cooking looks like, but with 113k followers, it’s what many of us wish our mealtimes look like
@wishbonekitchen on Instagram and TikTok
Wishbonekitchen was one of the first food influencers that caught my eye. Her “day in the life of a private chef” videos show the realities of working in the food industry, and don’t shy away from the more difficult aspects of the job. Meredith Hayden has a huge following on both Instagram (607K) and TikTok (1.3M), has multiple cook books, and a successful food blog. She engages her followers and separates herself from the crowd by running a brand based on herself, rather than purely on her culinary creations, and is a firm favorite of mine.
@Ne1forbait on Instagram
Accounts like this are becoming increasingly popular for restaurant recommendations. Ne1forbait works the classic food porn angle, while promoting local restaurants. With a local, rather than global audience, accounts like this are fantastic places to look for your next night out.
@Samseats on TikTok
If you have a TikTok account, I can almost gurantee you have seen a video by samseats on your feed, even if you are not a self-proclaimed foodie. The ASMR cooking account has 9.8M followers, and around 176.2M likes on its page. These recipes are certainly not ones that I would attempt to recreate at home, but the page is extremely satisfying.
@Kauscooks on TikTok
Kauscooks has around 155.7K followers on TikTok, and although maybe a smaller page than some previously mentioned, this is definitely one I would watch out for. Their recipes seem more realistic, and are not too much of a reach for even a student to recreate at home.