Popular food Instagrammers have taken over the social media site with beautiful stacks of pancakes, indulgent bowls of pasta and lavish lunch spreads. However, besides making you jealous of their food and giving you recipe ideas you’ll bookmark for later (because you swear you’ll make this one), a majority of these influencers aren’t really making an impact in the world. While not to discredit their incredible ability of making even potatoes look five-star-restaurant worthy, it’s time we put the foodie influencers who are taking action to create change in the spotlight.
Max La Manna
Max La Manna, @eatingwithmax on Instagram, is a New York-based vegan chef. His Instagram page and blog, eatingwithmax.com, are both filled with tasty-looking recipes. What you’ll also notice when browsing his pages, though, is that amongst his food photos are also pictures of food scraps, reusable products and handfuls of trash. This might sound slightly strange for a food Instagram at first, but the reason behind these three things is La Manna’s main goal of decreasing waste in our nation.
Dubbed the “Zero Waste Vegan Chef” on news stations and by NowThis News, this sustainable food Instagrammer is actively promoting a trend toward plant-based eating and a zero-waste world. La Manna leads by example, striving to show people how easy vegan cooking can be, how to reduce and reuse, as well as how he tries to help the planet. From helpful tips and tricks, to reminding his followers to do simple tasks like donating food or to stop using plastic grocery bags.
With captions to his photos like “Today, make a pledge for earth Day to be EVERYDAY” and “Want change? Be the change!” La Manna is pushing his followers to be better and do better. There’s nothing fresher than a young influencer using his over 44,000 follower platform for inspiration and change when it comes to our plates and the planet.
Kristina Carrillo Bucaram
Better known by her social media handle, @fullyrawkristina, Kristina Carrillo Bucaram is a woman who is constantly striving to promote mental and physical health. With vibrant raw-food photos, self-love posts and motivational captions, Bucaram inspires her followers to live life to the fullest and follow your dreams.
After beating Type 2 Diabetes by eating a diet of raw foods, she set out to help others know her story and overcome their challenges, too. From Instagram, to YouTube, to her app and book, FullyRawKristina is using her positive personality and her passion to help those within her one-million-follower platform heal, both mentally and physically. As she travels the globe, Bucaram always makes sure to reach out to her followers by showing them the power of healthy eating and positive thinking. Considering she is the highest-followed Instagrammer within this genre of Instagram, it is great that she has used her influence on people to make a positive impact.
Pointless Packaging
Under the Instagram handle @pointless_packaging, an anonymous user has taken to social media to expose unsustainable practices. As their Instagram bio states, the account is “shaming supermarkets into taking action on Pointless Packaging. We’re not goin away until the plastic does.” While this is not your typical foodie Instagram, every photo is depicting food; but this time the food is the negative part! Pointless Packaging is using its somewhat small, yet growing platform to exploit the unreasonable and excessive use of plastic by grocery stores across the globe.
By doing so, as well as offering a petition against this over-use of plastic to be signed in their bio, this account is promoting a change to better our planet. While the account posts original photos, they also take photo submissions and tagged pictures, making a global voice on the matter be heard! Sounds like something Max La Manna could get behind.
The “Ugly” Fruit & Veg Campaign
Similar to the previous account, @uglyfruitandveg isn’t your typical food Instagram. Nonetheless, with a following of over 40,000 people, this campaign’s page is worth noting. Created by Jordan Figueiredo, The “Ugly” Fruit & Veg Campaign Instagram page is full of vibrant plant-foods, just in slightly abnormal forms.
Basically, the page highlights fruits and vegetables that aren’t of their expectedly “perfect” shape or size. The campaign’s purpose is to fight food waste, since, according to The Guardian, “Half of all US food produce is thrown away” due to imperfections.
By shining a spotlight on this issue, which has effects on malnourished people in poverty and on our environment, the account is opening up discussion and awareness on an issue that often isn’t talked about. Not to mention, other accounts, like vegetable grower @marksallotmentdiary, are featured on the page to showcase others who are supporting the movement behind promoting imperfect produce.
Jamie Oliver
With a following of over 6 million people, it’s clear that Jamie Oliver is more than just a food Instagrammer. This English-born chef has made a name for himself through multiple TV shows, documentaries, cookbooks and owning a restaurant group. What landed him a spot on this list, though, is his activism and campaigning for issues surrounding food.
In 2005, Oliver launched his Feed Me Better campaign in Britain to push for healthier eating of children, which later became adopted by the British government. Oliver later went on to create two shows, “Jamie’s Ministry of Food” and “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution,” in which he traveled within Yorkshire and even to America to change the unhealthy way so many people are eating.
Also under this household-known chef’s belt is his charity restaurant, Fifteen, an establishment where Oliver helps disadvantaged youths gain skills and training for working in the hospitality industry; a TED Prize for making a difference amongst individuals and the government; and a campaign with fellow celebrity chefs raising awareness about fish waste. He’s even ran campaigns to fight childhood obesity and help ban children from purchasing and consuming energy drinks. It is amazing to believe that all of this accomplishment and advocacy sits behind an Instagram page (and several cookbooks) of mouth-watering food photos.
Lee Tilghman
This Los Angeles-residing foodie, known as @leefromamerica on Instagram, has a steady-growing following of over 305,000 followers. While her smoothie bowls, salads and selfies are all beautiful, what really brings in the followers is her positivity and raw, unfiltered personality. Tilghman’s posts tend to range from simple recipes, self-love motivation, healthy living tips and openness about all things life; she’s far more than just your average food Instagrammer. Plus, she even runs a blog in which she dives deep into tough subjects to help reach those who can relate.
This Instagram influencer constantly reminds her audience that behind her adorable manicure, plant-filled LA apartment and toned abs is a woman who is not perfect; a common misconception about social media celebrities. Tilghman shares pictures of her bloated belly and makeup-free selfies, as well as deep and detailed captions about her struggle with PCOS, eating disorders, anxiety and depression. Through this, she opens up discussion and creates a supportive place for anyone who shares these experiences.
Tilghman has created an incredibly aesthetic Instagram page and a loving, supportive follower-base, to which she promotes self-care, openness about struggles and healthy eating. Plus, she clearly promotes indulging in chocolate chip cookies. It’s great to see people overcoming their struggles and helping others do the same through optimism and love.
Who Else Is Out There?
Tons of people, and maybe even you! This is a quick snapshot of the different ways several food-based Instagrammers are making changes, whether it’s on the individual level with self-love or large-scale sustainability advocacy. Don’t go unfollowing your favorite recipe account because all they give you is serious food FOMO, but don’t forget to look out for the accounts that are doing their part in bettering the world. If you can’t find an influencer pushing for the changes you want made, do as @eatingwithmax said and “be the change!”