I'll be the first to admit that when people started taking pictures of their food and sharing those photos on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and elsewhere, I thought the practice was completely moronic. And then I did it.

Now, a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology indicates that taking photos of food and other things is actually good for your mental health, as it "boosts your enjoyment of positive situations" by the very act of focusing on it. And let's face it, I need all the good mental health I can get!

Don't misunderstand me, I still think it is slightly idiotic that we have taken to memorializing even the very mundane things we do in our lives, like eating, brushing our teeth, or doing dishes. But unfortunately for me, I've become part of the problem! Yes, I am that idiot!

But in my defense, in our family we've always taken pictures of food, especially around the holidays. Every holiday! Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween, St. Patrick's Day- all of them were an occasion to take a picture of homemade bread, desserts, main courses, cookies and of course, the accompanying tablescape. But not for publication, because back then where would you post it?

I honestly don't recall a single time where I sat down with a friend, showed them photos of our Thanksgiving dinner (or any food product) and had them give me a thumbs up, a smiley face or make a comment like, "Did you do that turkey on the grill or in the oven?" Nope, it just never happened. But in the age of social media, we do it everyday, all the time.

When my sister Carmela and my brother-in-law Jon were here from Colorado last week, we went to Breadico for lunch. We had heard their Neopolitan pizza was fantastic and wanted to judge for ourselves, (since our Italian heritage is Neopolitan, who better to judge, eh?). Though the service was markedly less than friendly, (for reasons we couldn't comprehend) the pizza was high art, so we forgave the sideways glances and snark.

And now that I've admitted I'm contributing to the ridiculous practice of photographing my food, let me show you some pictures!

Source: PureWow.com


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