More Foodies Going Online

A new study conducted by market research firm Hartman Group has found that social media is becoming increasingly central to American consumers’ food habits. Surveying participants over the phone and through in-depth interviews, researchers found that half of consumers are getting recipes and cooking inspiration from sites such as Twitter and Facebook, while another 40 percent are turning to blogs and apps. Amy Sousa, an anthropologist and ethnographic analyst at Hartman Group, explains that the shift toward using the web to gather cooking information has led to a more visual way of experiencing food. “People are imagining food as they look at food blogs, even though they may not actually cook it,” says Sousa.