Bored Panda had a chat about food with pie artist and author Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin. She kindly answered our questions about why we love talking about food so much, how we can enjoy eating more, and shared a simple way how we can improve our diets right now.
"Some people think the internet was created to help remote universities share datasets with each other faster, but we know the real reason: to disseminate photos of kittens and our lunches as efficiently as possible. I kid, but only a little," she said that people have been drawn to images of mouth-watering food since the time we began depicting images in two dimensions. Jessica drew attention to the fact that an entire category of Salon painting, Still Life, is dedicated to "Renaissance dudes sharing pics of their lunches to make each other jelly."
"Why do we love looking at food images so much? For the same reason we like looking at the other (ahem) kind of picture the internet is famous for—we need food to live and thrive as a tribe/species, so we're hardwired to seek it out."
Pie artist Jessica, the author of 'Pies Are Awesome,' explained to Bored Panda that there are big benefits to eating 'mindfully.'
"Eating 'mindfully' goes a long way towards ensuring we not only derive more enjoyment from our meals but eat less and better," she said. "When you are eating, only eat. Don’t be walking around the kitchen. Don’t be scrolling on your phone. Don’t be watching TV or otherwise multitasking. Sit down with just you and your food and actually pay attention to each bite you are putting in your mouth. This will help you slow down, taste your food, and your brain will be more likely to acknowledge that you just ate, and ruminate on how you feel about what you just ate."
Meanwhile, Jessica suggested swapping all beverages out for plain ol' water in order to improve our diet. Though, she admits, it might be an unpopular opinion on her part.
"A glass of water and a piece of fruit is way better for you than a glass of fruit juice. A glass of water and a handful of candy or chocolate bar is way more satisfying than a glass of sugary soda," she said that you get fewer calories and junk chemicals this way.
"You can cut out a ton of calories without making a ton of sacrifices on your plate by kicking all the drinks in your fridge to the curb, and upping your water intake. Save the non-water drinks for special occasions only. Your body (and especially skin!) will thank you."
The ‘Wannabe Food’ page has over 651k followers, and is a branch of the ‘Wannabe Ent’ project. They’re ace when it comes to picking out great memes to share with their fans. Everyone needs a bit of extra humor in their lives, and these guys know how to entertain, that’s for sure.
Whatever the future might bring—good or bad—food and comedy are two pretty universal things that probably won’t change much. In fact, we’d go as far to say that they define humanity at its core. In short, we love laughing at things and we love eating. Mix ‘em both together, and it’s a Relatability Cocktail (on the rocks).
Recently, Bored Panda spoke about the future of internet trends and memes with pop culture and social media expert Mike Sington, from Los Angeles. He shared his thoughts about what things he believes are temporary and will be looked upon as strange in the future, and what kind of content survives, no matter what.
"Sharing personal photos of yourself, your life, your family, and especially your children will probably seem very peculiar in a couple of decades," the expert said.
"People just now are becoming increasingly concerned about privacy on the internet, and it will.”
According to Mike, humor is a powerhouse that is “here to stay,” no matter how much we travel into the future.
"Funny thoughts, anecdotes, and memes are popular now, and will have staying power on the internet. People often go online for escapism, and humor has always provided that. I don’t foresee that changing," the social media expert told us that humor is timeless.
"If something becomes popular quickly and seems to come out of nowhere, it’s more likely to be a passing fad," Mike warned.
"Long-term trends with staying power seem to build more slowly, but at a steady pace. Be careful of jumping on the 'bandwagon' yourself, just because something is popular in the moment. That’s the scenario that’s most likely to haunt you in the future," he said.
As much as we love gastronomic memes, the truth of the matter is that food prices have been soaring this year. Earlier in August, CNN reported that grocery prices had increased by 13.1% over the past 12 months. That was the largest annual increase in the United States since the year ending in 1979, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“The cost of eggs has soared 38%, and prices for other goods have also jumped: Flour is up 22.7%, chicken 17.6%, milk 15.6%, ground beef 9.7% and bacon 9.2%. Fruits and vegetables got 9.3% more expensive,” CNN lists just how much more expensive core purchases have become.
The situation isn’t much better across the pond, in the United Kingdom. Prices have risen at the fastest rate in over 40 years, and inflation hit a whopping 10.1% in July. It’s not just food that’s getting more expensive: energy costs are rearing their head, too. So much so that it’s not just ordinary Brits but also business owners who are worried about making ends meet.
Culinary expert and talented pie artist Jessica also recently shared a few great ideas with Bored Panda, on how to save money when cooking in this economy.
