Food Numbers are Pretty

These are bringing me great joy today:

They are visual depictions of Google searches for the words "mango" and "ginger," coming to us courtesy of Google's partnership with Truth & Beauty. At the linked website, you can see similar data visualizations for a bunch of food-related words. For someone like me - someone who is equally taken with data and food - this is nothing short of magical.

Truth and beauty, indeed.

(I didn't discover this on my own. Thank you, Richard Gorelick, for sharing it on FB!)

Parties + Happiness + Research

These days, it's more fashionable to talk about sparking joy than about straight up happiness (that's so 2009). But I still find the subject pretty riveting, especially as it applies to one of my other favorite subjects: throwing parties.

In 2005, Sonja Lyubormirsky, a noted happiness scholar and psychology professor at the University of California Riverside, published a study indicating that happiness is driven by three things. Genetics are responsible for about half of our happiness; circumstances account for another 10%. We don’t have much, if any, control over either. But the remaining 40% is determined by "intentional activities and practices." Stuff we do to make ourselves happier – or not.

Having parties is what makes me happy – and I'm not unusual. Even people who don't think of themselves as natural hosts or hostesses can benefit from the act of throwing a party. But don't trust me on this - trust science. I've done some research (proving that I can make anything nerdier) and here's what I found:

Throwing a Party Makes Us Socialize – and Socializing Makes Us Happy

Parties bring people together – obviously – and that's a good thing. Two psychological studies of university students both found that socialization is associated with more happiness.

In a 2007 study, students who rated their social skills higher also rated their stress lower and life satisfaction higher. Good stuff all around. An earlier study, published in 2002, found that while exercise, religion and the incidence of "good events" did not differ between very happy and average or unhappy people, those in the very happy group were more likely to be highly social, with stronger relationships.

If this sounds like a raw deal for people who aren't natural extroverts, don’t think of it that way. No, you can't (and shouldn't) force yourself to convert to extroversion. But even if you're an introvert, you can enhance social relationships by throwing a party that fits your needs. A small one, with just your close friends, is still a party. 

Throwing a Party Keeps You Busy – and Happiness Is Action-Oriented

Throwing a party can be a lot of work. There are guest lists to make, invitations to send, menus to plan, drinks to dream up and booze to buy. The good news, though, is that your mile-long party to-do list has a hidden secret. It'll help keep you happy.

A 2010 study at the University of Chicago demonstrated that people who are busy are happier than people who are idle. A separate study,from 2005, found that performing five acts of kindness all in a single day increased short-term happiness levels.

Think of each item on that list - from buying ice to baking cookies - as an act of kindness for your guests. It's true.

Throwing a Party Helps Us Visualize Our Best Possible Selves

When I was a little girl, one of my absolute favorite things to do was to play dress-up in my grandmother's closet. After layering on as much costume jewelry as possible, I'd stick my little feet into a pair of her high heels – my favorites were a glittery pair of silver pumps that were more over the top than your average drag show – grab a matching handbag and shuffle around her bedroom, feeling as glamorous as Grace Kelly. In those moments, I dreamed of my adult life. And wow, did it sparkle.

Every time I throw a party, I go through the same exercise – minus the silver shoes and borrowed beads. From invitations through menu planning to the day of the party, as I chop and sweep and organize glassware, I imagine how the party will turn out, what will happen, how I'll feel. In my mind, it's always a success.

I know I'm not alone in those pre-party daydreams – it's something that happens naturally. And the good news is, those types of thought processes can have a positive impact on our overall happiness.

In a 2006 study, researchers found that exercises helping people visualize their "best possible selves" both boosted the way people experienced positive emotions and hampered negative emotions. That is more than enough reason, for me, to keep on dreaming about the fabulous parties ahead. 

Throwing a Party Helps Us Spread the Love Around

When we surround ourselves with happy people, we'll be happier, too. It's so logical – and it's true.

A long-term study of happiness and social networks (the real life kind, not the Facebook kind), publishedin 2008, found that individuals studied were 15% more likely to be happy if another study participant to whom they were connected (like a friend or family member) was also happy. The study also found that individuals were 25% more likely to be happy if a friend who lived within a mile became happy during the course of the study. Basically, happiness is contagious.

Contagious and, unlike those lice getting passed around your kid's seventh birthday party (true story chez Pollard), something that's actually worth spreading. People meet people at parties. They share stories, laughter, fun. 

Happiness blossoms.

Trendy Trendiness

This article, from Eater, is fabulous. It caught my eye on Facebook today, when Richard Gorelick shared it as part of his "Crontinuing Croverage of the Cronut Crisis." (He's posts a lot about cronuts...or at least he did, back when they were in the news every five minutes. Now it's only ever seven minutes.)

The article is so good that I don't even really have much to add, except to note that it hits all my sweet spots: food + trends + that annoying tension that exists when companies try to use research to simply create trends, without realizing that you can't make fetch happen.

Another reason I love it: use of the "can't make fetch happen" phrase, which is one of my favorites, in reference to Peruvian food, which I have written about here like every other year...and also for the Sun - because it really is a thing here in Maryland.

Peruvian cuisine aside, the article is full of good observations and valid points about how food trends emerge, explaining that to understand what might be the next trend, you have to look beyond the tangible characteristics of the last trend to understand the need it filled. People lined up for cupcakes, then they lined up for cronuts. That does not mean that they will, next, line up for Croissan'wiches, even if Burger King starts making them with artisanal butter, in a converted factory in Queens or whatever. I know how those conversations sometimes go within marketing departments. It might look like pastries that start with "C" are consistent winners - but they are not.

My takeaway, of course, is not that you can't predict or identify trends. It's just that you need better research.

Beer Me a Beer

It's a sudsy world these days.

Between the loosening of brewing laws (locally) and a surge in craft brewing, the booze world in 2015 appears to belong to the beermakers. In 2014, craft breweries generated $19.6 billion of $101.5 billion U.S. beer sales - a 22% increase over the year. That is...a lot of craft beer.

It's no surprise, then, that the beer industry is a strong player in the internet's coveted "people who make cool maps and write listicles using consumer data" market. Just today, I came across three good examples of the genre.

My favorite is the map below. The Priceonomics website, using data pulled from over 6,000 menus from restaurants located throughout the U.S., determined the most commonly listed beers in each state:

The map above, which summarizes those findings, suggests that America is Bud Light Land. Except for Maryland and Virginia...which are Miller Lite Land. Interesting. Also interesting: that South Carolina is a little pocket of Yuengling Country. And that Okies love Stella. Who knew?

But wait, there's more.

Using Beer Advocate data, the website Cool Material created a list of the most highly rated beer from each state. In Maryland, it's Duckpin from Union Brewing - a brew that is, these days, almost as common on restaurant menus as Natty Boh.

The Chive mined data from Thrillist and the Beer Hunt app to put together a list of the most popular craft beers from each state. I have to kinda question their methodology, though...because Natty Boh was listed as Maryland's beer. I'm pretty sure that no matter what definition of "craft" you're using, something brewed by a major international brewer shouldn't fall in that category. (Unless, I guess, it has more to do with limited distribution area than brewer. But that still seems wrong.)

Unsurprisingly, Delaware is allll about the Dogfish Head - on all of these lists. The actual beer might vary but there's no doubt that DE is Dogfish country.

Insta Data...on Food

Instagram's food data crunching and presentation is just on fire right now. They've created a cool, semi-interactive website focused on "The Food Capitals of Instagram" - the cities where certain frequently photographed foods are hottest.

Since the data is driven by numbers, it's not a huge surprise that large global cities - London, New York, Seoul, Sydney - dominate the discussion. But there are still some intriguing findings.

Like this: apparently right now, 7.5% of all photos of pulled pork originate in...London. That's a higher percentage than come from NYC, which is a whole lot closer to the heart of BBQ country.

That doesn't completely surprise me. After all, when we were in Paris last year, McDonald's was advertising the hell out of a southern sandwich, proving that southern cuisine really had overtaken the Western world.

It's a good lesson, too, in how trends expand and what is truly global. (The answer: pizza. Pizza is truly global.)

I wish the website allowed users to drill down - I'd love to be able to explore regional stats, especially in the US. Right now, you can get a general sense of what's happening and where, but nothing specific.

But still, it's cool. Data + food always makes me happy.

Food, Gender and Body Language

What an awesome thesis topic.

The short version of the (also short) article at the link is that the author, a woman who just graduated from Occidental College, wrote her senior thesis about how women eat differently in front of other women vs. in front of men. She observed 76 pairs of diners at two high-end West Coast restaurants and discovered that when they're with men, women are, basically, daintier.

In the comments, there's some back and forth about why that is and about how things might be different in more casual settings, which is an interesting observation. And of course, because of who I am, before fully believing anything, I'd want to know a lot more backstory.

But still - what a topic! I love it! Especially since I spend so much time watching other people eat at restaurants, as I eavesdrop on their awkward first dates and breakup conversations while I try to figure out if we made good ordering choices and whether the wait staff is equally well-trained.

I can't believe I've never thought about doing an etiquette ethnography related to this stuff. It just might happen.

State-by-State Boozing

Yesterday, The Washington Post published some interesting charts of alcohol consumption by state:

Maryland is decidedly average on all counts - beer consumption, wine consumptions, spirits consumption and binge drinking. Average isn't really news but what interests me is our neighbors. DC is the biggest consumer of wine and spirits and a heavy binge drinking town, too, apparently. Delaware rises to the top for beer, spirits and binge drinking.

Both are teeny tiny, and the findings are based on per capita consumption, so that probably explains some of the discrepancy between the two locations and Maryland, which is tucked right in between.

But interesting, nonetheless.

Where You Eat=How You Vote

It's been a while since I shared a cool, food-related chart.

This one is cool. And timely!

Following the Chick-Fil-A flap, a couple of research and politics

guys looked into how party registration and volter turnout relate to chain restaurants throughout the country. The result was published in the LA Times. (I found it via the Fast Company design blog.)

The really cool part of the article is this chart:

As the Fast Company post says, this is really about the politics of geography vs. the politics of food:

Many of the places that skew Democrat are mostly in cities (who's surprised to see Whole Foods up there in high turnout/heavily Dem?), while the super-heavily Republican places are mostly found in the South

(though Waffle House gets a snub!).

Overally, the findings fit with the well-known geography of party alliance.

And the places that are ubiquitous? They're right there in the center.

McDonald's, apparently, serves one and all.

Even without any surprises, it's still pretty cool.

Though it's a good reminder that it is a loooooong time 'til November.

Researchy: Yet Another Bacon-Themed Infographic

Via: Online Schools

Things I learned from this:

• I live in the fourth biggest bacon market in the US
• Denmark sounds like a pretty sweet country
• My bacon consumption during pregnancy probably gave Dixon a leg up in the smarts department

Kroger, Facebook, and Privacy

I found this article, which is about the grocery store Kroger's use of loyalty card data, by clicking through an Instapundit link. The link is presented without comment, but I wonder if Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit himself) linked to it because he was interested in the privacy ramifications of Kroger's practices. It seems like his kind of thing.

As for me, I'd prefer that the government leave me alone as much as possible, but I have absolutely no problem at all with private businesses mining my data, especially when they reward me in the form of discounts.

It's not much of a stretch to connect loyalty card privacy concerns with Facebook, either. Both are private organizations that people opt into. Did I find it annoying when FB restructured my "likes" and made me redo my privacy settings ten times? Yes, yes I did. But not so much that I stopped using the site. Giving up that degree of privacy is worth it to me because it allows me to see what my high school and college friends are doing every single second and because I like looking at other people's vacation photos.

More than anything, reading that article made me want to contact Kroger's research firm to see if I can freelance for them. Because...who wouldn't want to know more about how Americans do their grocery shopping? Seriously - I bet there is some cool, cool stuff in that data.

My point, then? It's twofold: a) what Kroger's doing is not that big of a deal to start with, and b) if you don't like it, stop complaining. Just opt out.

Bacon Day Is September 4th

I learned that (and a lot of other things) from reading this:
(via I Can Has Internets)

Chart Porn: My New Favorite Blog

I can't believe I'd never seen Chart Porn before this morning - and I stumbled upon it randomly, too. It's full of excellent infographics - this one on infidelity is so elegantly constructed.

This one graphically showing the evolution of household budgets between the 1950s and today is entertaining and informative, though it's a little difficult to make decade-to-decade comparisons. It's also awfully long (the graphic at the left only shows the '50s and '60s). I do love the use of wallpaper backgrounds, though, to give each decade it's own visual feel.

It's vaguely food-related, too! Did you know that during the 1980's, Americans consumed 37 pounds of chicken annually per capita? By the 2000's, that number had risen to 67 pounds.

I'll have you know that I am doing my part to reverse that trend. In the 80's, my mom made chicken for dinner at least four nights a week. For that very reason, I cook chicken once a week at most.

Infographics Are (Still) Cool

You know what makes me happy? When someone (like Discovery Doug) emails me something like this:
Is this supposed to make me think fast food is bad? Because it doesn't - not really at least. Not enough to keep me from loving McD's fries. A couple of thoughts on the content:

• McDonald's employs 400,000. That's great.
• I bet that 1,680 calorie White Castle shake is pretty delicious.
• I'm surprised that the average daily calorie intake in Ethiopia is 1,800 calories. I guess it's because the famine took place during my formative years, and I realize that there's sure to be some crazy intake disparity, but I thought the average would be much lower.
• OK, the violations and the chemicals aren't that pleasant. But you know what else I noticed? Chick-fil-A is not on this graphic. Probably because it is the best fast food restaurant ever. Seriously, the one we go to has table service. Table service.

Love Those Infographics

On Friday, Cail sent me a link to this collection of 30 fantastic graphic displays of information, including the seasonal food chart above - serious research analysis porn.

I don't have a really strong sense of how many people are into this sort of thing, but for me, really effective and cool infographics are about as inspiring as great works of art. OK, maybe not quite as inspiring, but pretty inspiring, and potentially attainable.

Why Don't I Care More about the Obesity/Art Study?

The study reads like something I'd be totally interested in: an analysis of portion sizes in 52 paintings of The Last Supper, conducted by a consumer behavior expert from Cornell and a minister who teaches at Virginia Wesleyan (who are also brothers). The findings are intriguing, indicating that portion size has grown, on canvas at least, over the last several centuries.

Art+food - it's got my hot buttons. And yet, it leaves me cold, and really only interested in my own lack of interest. In fact, I didn't even decide to blog about it until I read about the study in three other places. Is that because I just don't care about obesity? Or am I in denial because I like to eat? Does it matter?

Sad News for Campbell's Lovers

Earlier this week, the market research and product development world lost a star when Donald Goerke, the 83 year old inventor of Spaghetti-O's and Campbell's Chunky Soup, passed away.

Goerke was the marketing research director of Franco-American (part of Campbell's) in the early 1960s when he developed the idea of Spaghetti-O's. He was looking for a pasta product with shapes that would appeal to kids. I think he succeeded. Years later, he also developed the Chunky Soup line. Something of a soupy, researchy Don Draper? Maybe.

This is all close to my heart. For one thing, I really loved Spaghetti-O's until about 3 months ago, when I (sadly) realized I don't like them anymore. For years and years, though, they were my biggest guilty pleasure.

In addition, Chunky Soup was one of my big early clients when I worked at Context. I've been to Campbell's HQ, in lovely Camden, New Jersey and have seen the Warhol in the lobby. I have learned a lot about the people who buy and eat Chunky. For an old, staid company, Campbell's was willing to take some research risks (sounds like an oxymoron, I know, but trust me).

This week is definitely a little sadder for the market research community - and for anyone in the food world who still appreciates the innovation that those products once represented.

Fast Food Flowchart

I can't clearly articulate just how happy it makes me when data and food come together in a creative presentation. So thank you, Eating the Road, for this fast food flow chart:
Thank you, especially, for asking, "Would you ever eat at Arby's?" In case you're wondering, yes. The answer is yes.

Artsy Wednesday: Information Is Beautiful

Yesterday, my college friend Josh posted a Facebook link to this website, the aptly named Information Is Beautiful. Since I, obviously, agree with that sentiment, I couldn't resist spending some time browsing the site's amazing infographics, all created by its author, London-based designer (among other things), David McCandless.

This diagram, which shows the relative caffeine and caloric composition of a bunch of things, was the one food-related entry:
Somehow, the diagram neglects my primary source of caffeine buzz: Diet Coke. I wonder if DC consumption is less prominent in the UK than the US. I think that might be true.

McCandless describes himself as an "independent visual & data journalist." Otherwise known as my dream job. Honestly, I had no idea that there was actually a market for that particular job title, but now that I do know, I'm kind of excited.

Kind of excited, and on the verge of sending McCandless photos of the giant food/art/major events in history timeline in my basement, just to see what he says. But that would be creepy, right? Right?

My New Favorite Consumer Segment: The Gastrosexual

After looking through yesterday's pig roasting pics, my friend DC Jason sent me the following email, under the subject line "coop?":

Gastrosexuals are masculine, upwardly mobile men, aged 25-44, who are passionate about cooking and the rewards that it might bring – pleasure, praise and potential seduction.

It made me laugh, obviously. I also had no choice but to download the full report, which includes gems like this:

The sensuality of food is key; the richness of the experience, but also the ability to control that richness to enhance one flavour with another - and the effect this has on others. The display of this skill brings about other benefits - the gaining of praise and the ability to impress others. The term also expresses the growing acceptance that men, cooking and masculinity are not mutually exclusive - rather they can be part of an attractive form of male identity.

Upon further reflection, this may be mostly interesting to research geeks like me. And even if the findings aren't wildly surprising to this research analyst/food blogger, great research. What a totally fun project.

Vino by the Litre

Everybody knows I love, love, love a cool map. So you can imagine how excited I was to come across a website called Strange Maps, devoted to nothing but, well, strange maps (via Manolo). Not even halfway down the first page, I came across this gorgeous piece of statistical representation:

My favorite maps, or graphs, or charts, or whatever you want to call them, are like this - they take dry statistics and convey them in a completely visually compelling manner. On Strange Maps, each map comes with a couple of paragraphs of analysis and discussion, making it a really valuable resource.

And as for this map, I would put it in my kitchen in a heartbeat (or the wine cellar). My favorite finding is that the US drinks wine at roughly the same rate as Finland. So random, so interesting. Surprising? I'm not sure.