Ask not if it’s healthy, but will it look good on social media?

<p>A neuroscientist at the University of California was posting photos of everything he ate on his Facebook page. The expression “feed your face,” took on a new meaning. This professor claimed that revealing your food choices to the world will motivate you to eat better.</p><p>Dr. Garcia included daytime snacks, late-night raids of the fridge and even the doughnuts he had stuffed in his glove compartment. He had uploaded 9,000 pictures onto his Mac, which included a few dozen Big Macs, I might add.</p><p>I’m not sure this is a totally new idea. Unlike the good doctor, I’ve been uploading meals and then downloading them onto my dress shirts for more than 60 years. It is not uncommon for people to ask me about certain food choices I have posted on my clothing for all my friends to see.</p><p>“Looks delicious, Dick. Wasn’t that the special at the Olive Garden last week?”</p><p>“Been to a ball game, Dick? I recognize the mustard.”</p><p>People are always imposing a visual record of their lives on others. I’m tired of friends showing me their pets on their cell phones. In fact, I’d rather see a serving of French fries than a French poodle. An adorable pic of your granddaughter on her new trike isn’t nearly as interesting to me as a snapshot of a slab of smoky ribs. If it helps, I’ll even go, “Awww, how cute.”</p><p>My concern is that sharing your food intake publicly encourages cheating. You may have read how much dishonesty there is with online dating. Men and women fudge their age, for example. Talking about fudge, what’s to stop a woman from taking the Hershey bar she ate for lunch and with some Photoshop magic, turning it into a little plastic bag filled with baby carrots?</p><p>Men are even more deceptive. Sure, it looks like a $45 ribeye from St. Elmo, but it’s really just a cheap piece of beef off the grill at Golden Corral. With men, always be wary of digital enhancements.</p><p>The other problem is that you leave your entire culinary life open to wicked rebuke from the masses. If you think Bruno of Dancing with the Stars would be tough on your Cha Cha, imagine if he critiqued that Chimichanga you scarfed down for breakfast.</p><p>I eat a lot of meals in the car, so this would also create a bit of an inconvenience for me and jeopardize my already questionable driving record.</p><p>“Did I do something wrong, officer?”</p><p>“You suddenly pulled off onto the I-70 shoulder. Is everything OK?”</p><p>“I’m taking a photo of my fish sandwich.”</p><p>“Sir, this time I’m just going to issue a warning: Those are really high in sodium.”</p><p>Restaurants might try to benefit from this obsession with food photos. They already put little icons next to menu choices so we’ll know which items are low in fat. Now we’ll also know which ones are high in resolution.</p><p>The waitress will not only ask if you have room for dessert, but whether you have enough disc space. Is the meal dietetic? Who cares, as long as it’s photogenic.</p><p>Personally, I didn’t think posting meal choices on Facebook would catch on, especially in Indiana. Hoosiers are good people with high moral standards. They wouldn’t want their kids viewing corn on the Internet.</p>