According to this NPR article millions of people are now looking to the Internet (blogs and social media) to gain in their food knowledge. This shift has brought new experiences and expectations to our generation and has created an interesting dilemma for those companies who used to have a hold on America’s food culture.
From the article:
Their study, entitled Clicks & Cravings: The Impact of Social Technology on Food Culture, used a combination of in-depth interviews and a national phone survey to probe the ways social media is changing food culture. This is research that’s done for food companies, and so it costs a bundle. But Hartman was nice enough to let us take a peek.
In essence, they found that social media is becoming deeply embedded in our food habits: Half of consumers use sites like Twitter and Facebook to learn about food. Another 40 percent of consumers say they learn about food via websites, apps, or blogs.
[...]
Today, people are also sharing food information online – 54 percent said they do, according to the study – with friends, family and strangers. Indeed, we at The Salt notice that many people are posting just as many photos of the food during their travels as their companions or the scenery.
The study’s authors note that even if people aren’t cooking the foods they see in a visual way online they are learning about foods and setting expectations which need to be met by more traditional food purveyors. This shift has not gone unnoticed. Recently Lazy Lightning was invited (and sent someone to attend), twice, to attend a free blogger event at T.G.I. Fridays in which a newly revamped menu and restaurant design was unveiled. If this one national chain is trying to change their menus and restaurants to portray a more “grown-up” look and feel, it’s likely that others will be (or already are) following suit.
How do you learn about food? Did you use more traditional methods (cookbooks, advertising, family) up until recently or possibly even still now? How often do you consult the Internet instead? Do you find yourself surfing food blogs just to look at foods you may never try to make yourself or even eat at a restaurant? Do you think you’ve grown personally with regards to food because of your interactions either on food blogs or with others via social media? Have you noticed a change in traditional food purveyors menus and do you think that they’re doing an acceptable job of capturing the trends seen? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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March 8th, 2012 at 8:37 am
Food is a big deal at our house – both in-house and dining out. Two huge shifts in how we view food present themselves.
First: being older and growing up in ’50s rural America, our food was basic, Northern European fare. Nothing at all “exotic.” That has changed gradually but dramatically by moving to a large metropolitan area, and thus exposure to a variety of ethnic cuisine. Our food horizons now include most of the world.
Second is the age of constant connection. Yes, as Bill is pointing to via this post, the wired age brings into our lives food information that we never would be exposed to without the internets. There’s still remnants of old school media laying around (one food magazine) but for the most part the internet provides us info on food. We subscribe to several daily feeds for recipes and dining out, and visit several food blogs routinely.
Merge the two together and we’re eating healthier, very tasty, even exotic food routinely. Now the issue is preparation. Cooking food well can be a challenge for the novice and professional chef. Just ask Bill…
March 8th, 2012 at 9:06 am
I use the internet a lot for food stuff, and have for quite a few years. Food blogs, twitter and facebook for recipes and restaurant reviews, sites like epicurious for recipes (with ratings!) and even occasionally buying a hard to find ingredient online. I’d say about 80% of new things I cook come from online recipes.
But, I also rely on cookbooks. I have about 20 cookbooks and check cookbooks out at the library very often. I have at least 6 cookbooks from the library checked out right now, as I’ve started baking and cooking Indian food and wanted books to read. I often find something I want to make using a cookbook, then look up all the recipes online for it to find one with the best ratings.
And as a side, Hennepin County library system has the largest collection of cookbooks of any library system. It is amazing what you can find. I have a rule that I can’t buy a cookbook unless I check it out at the library first.
March 8th, 2012 at 9:41 am
I look up information on various foods all the time. Horseradish has been a powerful home remedy for many ailments for centuries, all around the world. Refined sugar is about the worst thing you can ingest because the body can’t process it and that leads to cancer. Use honey in place of sugar whenever possible. The onion is one of the world’s oldest known foods with many benefits to health. The public has been let down by the greed of the big food companies and advertising. Buy fresh as much as possible and use olive oil instead of margarine. In the last year I have lost 35 pounds by eliminating as much sugar, corn syrup products and artificial sweeteners as possible from what I eat. A little Turmeric in recipes promotes a very healthy stomach. Eat more fresh fruits and make candy a rare treat only. When I was a kid in the fifties, the only obese people had medical problems. Then nearly everyone got TV sets and were bombarded by commercials for unhealthy but tasty and Very Profitable junk food products, highly processed and full of sugar. What year did the term “couch potato” enter our lexicon?
March 8th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
I learn about food from online reviews of fine establishments such as Olive Garden:
http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/231419/
(Yeah, I know a bunch of you have probably seen this by now, but it was too appropriate not to share)
March 8th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
I get A LOT of my food info online. I rarely make the same recipe twice because there are SO MANY to choose from now, and there are usually ratings on how good they are, so I’m very rarely dissappointed.
In terms of food/nutrition info, I learn a lot about sources of info online. Many of the food-related books I’ve read or documentaries I’ve seen have been posted about on a blog or on Facebook. I’m also much more likely to trust the direct oppinions and research of fellow average citizens than I am to trust marketing or research that is paid for by groups with a marketing interest.
March 8th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
I have gleaned more info on this site in the past 18 months than anywhere else. Thanks LL readers and Bill. This site is the best!
March 8th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
I obtain food info from every direction. I have about 25 years of Gourmet magazines in my basement which I pull upstairs a read occasionally – they offer a unique perspective of various food eras, as well as generally better-quality recipes. I have recently reduced my cookbook library from 550 to about 400. Right now I have about a dozen cookbooks from the library.
I watch cooking channel, PBS, and Food Network. I frequent many blogs and websites, including Epicurious, Serious Eats, Chowhound, etc. I subscribe to Saveur and Bon Appetit ($1 per issue), because it really is still exciting to receive a shiny new magazine in the mailbox that has stories about types of foods that you might never have thought to google.
Healthwise, I have learned loads about nutrition via books, friends, co-ops, etc. Our family maintains a “real food” philosophy which has done well by all of us, healthwise, for over 20 years.
We rarely cook/bake the same things twice, although we do have a few favorites.
March 8th, 2012 at 9:13 pm
I feel like I’m taking in a new level of food knowledge with the internet, one with a basis of food knowledge from my grandmothers, who were both exceptional cooks in different ways (one was a caterer, one a woman who cooked since she could walk). I’ve found new spins on old favorites, brand new adventures to try out, and a whole slew of suggestions to enhance my dishes through the internet. It’s definitely my go-to when looking for restaurant suggestions (that’s how I found this source, thanks Bill!) and for ideas when I’m travelling. But I’ve found that it’s the knowledge that’s been passed down to me and the recipes that I’ve inherited that are still my foundation for cooking.
March 9th, 2012 at 6:35 am
I learned food initially from my family. On the Italian side food was an integral part of daily life, and elevated during holidays. Sourcing the food was of particular interest, I remember my father asking where certain ingredients came from in a meal my mother had cooked. My mothers family was German and gave me an appreciation of farm based German recipes mostly based on pork. After this initial exposure and then living on my own my learning came from cookbooks and magazines , from a wife who grew up in a very basic meat and potatoes and no spice home who craved new food experiences and enjoyed experimenting as well. At this point and for the last 10 years the blogosphere and tv cooking and travel shows probably are the main influence. Having foodies as friends, visiting new restaurants, reading reviews like on this page and places like The Heavy Table are my go to sites now.
March 15th, 2012 at 7:01 am
[...] up’ in this way to be more or less appealing to you? Do you believe that these changes are due to people’s ever increasing knowledge of food through social media and the web? Whatever you have to say about T.G.I. Friday’s new menu offerings go ahead and comment on as [...]