Meet Our Guest 'Grammer of the Week: @Shelovesfoodnyc
Are you as obsessed with Instagram #foodporn as we are? Love to document all of your #eeeeeats? Every week we’re teaming up with a popular food-stagrammer who will be taking over our feed to fill it with some of their own delicious pics. Head over to @YahooFood, give us a follow, and check out the #TastyTakeovers tag to watch their foodie adventures unfold all weekend long.
This weekend on #TastyTakeovers we talk with Emily Sundberg, a student in New York who is currently an intern at Yahoo Health. She has a balanced lifestyle of yoga and smoothie bowls while exploring the delicious eats New York has to offer. Check out the Q&A below!
Name/Instagram handle: Emily Sundberg, @shelovesfoodnyc
Yahoo Food: Tell us a bit about yourself!
Emily Sundberg: I am a 20-year-old New York student, from Centerport, N.Y. I feel very strongly about people having creative outlets, and mine happens to be food photography, cooking, and eating.
I’ve had positions in food media, journalism, and now I’ve worked hard to combine all the things I love as an intern for the team at Yahoo Health.
When I’m not working or in school I love to find new coffee places in New York, cook for my family and friends, sleep on the beach all day and then Instagram the sunset at the end, and take yoga classes.
All Photos Courtesy of Emily Sundberg
What first got you interested in food and photography? Where do you draw inspiration from?
I grew up in a very healthy house, where brown rice and vegetables were staples that my mom made (she’s a fitness instructor), and my dad has celiac disease.
After reading a 10-foot-high stack of healthy books and working at a slightly overwhelming raw vegan restaurant my freshman year of college, my eating completely changed, and I fell in love with plant-based eating.
Rewind a few years and I was a photographer in high school who found food was a more reliable than my friends with busy schedules. I began photographing food, downloaded Instagram when it first came out, and started posting on there.
My inspiration comes from what I know food can do for the human body! I want everyone to know how good people are designed to feel — mentally and physically. This is something I’m still practicing, but I think food is a lot about balance and learning how important it is to eat right.
Sundberg starts her mornings with almond milk, strawberries, vegan vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, and chia seeds.
How do you take your photos (with a camera or phone)? What are your favorite photo editing tools and/or tips for taking exceptional food photos? Give us the scoop!
All my photos are taken on my iPhone! Which is really cracked right now because I fell on it while walking out of the subway! But I really like VSCO (like everyone else) and natural light (like everyone else.)
Who are three of your favorite Instagrammers? What do you like about them?
My friend Marta @h0tgirlseatingpizza rules. I met her last summer, and she featured me but she’s killing it now and really is using Instagram the right way. Recently I’ve been really into @whalebonemagazine/@whalebonecreative’s feed. I grew up on Long Island and spent my summer when I was little out in Ditch Plains so it’s nice to have little visual reminders on Montauk while I’m caught up in the craziness of the city during the day. @EmilyaFaulstich does these little illustrations of pizza and other things I love and finds the most beautiful little moments in New York and we also share an obsession with Larry David.
Sundberg enjoying large buckets of fresh seafood in Montauk.
What do you enjoy about Instagram compared to other online communities?
I’ve met really good friends on Instagram, because we shared similar interests, which was visible on our photo feeds. I can’t say that about other platforms! It really connects people, and I see it at events or dinners that are essentially curated around people who live similar lives or are creative in similar positive ways. I also think it goes back to people having a creative outlet, and allows people to tap into their inner photographer and see the world in new beautiful ways — finance men and moms alike.
Her first attempt at gluten-free sweet potato gnocchi.
What’s the best thing you’ve eaten recently?
I love the miso soup at Blue Ribbon Sushi because they give you the miso on the side and you can add how much you want. They’re the only place I’ve seen that serves it like that.
If you could throw a dream dinner party for any three people — living or dead — who would they be and what would you cook for them?
I would invite Seth McFarlane, John Lennon, and Steve Jobs. I wouldn’t have a dinner party, I would have a breakfast party and have a big plate of sliced avocado with this Italian olive oil I have and chili flakes and sea salt. I make these scrambled organic eggs with fresh herbs and pepper that are so good so I would definitely make that with a basket of whole-wheat toast. I would make these gluten and sugar free banana muffins with reaaaaally overripe bananas and they’re so good, you can eat as many as you want because there’s nothing bad in them. Massive bowls of berries are also essential.
Hopefully there would be a lot of conversation leaving me funnier, kinder, and smarter.
Gluten and sugar free banana muffins made with very overripe bananas.
What’s the best dish you’ve ever made or the dish that you’re known for?
My parents went to a dinner party a few days before Christmas last year and somehow they volunteered me to cook for it? I baked cod with herbs and tomatoes and really good quality olives and it was perfect.
What does the new food revolution mean to you?
There are so many food revolutions going on right now, but I think one of the more impactful ones is the shift toward healthy eating. You can buy chia seeds in Duane Reade [a drug store in NYC].
Plants are so much more sustainable than meat, and are really good for your body. My boyfriend was explaining to me how countries like China are now consuming so much more meat and it’s really effecting the environment negatively. Jean Georges said in a quote with Bonberi last week “To raise a cow it take so much water and energy, but to grow a radish, it takes two weeks.”
So the food revolution to me means opening people’s eyes to conscious eating and learning where your food comes from. My Instagram account gives me a really great opportunity to do that.
And last but not least—what’s your favorite food (if you had to pick one)?
My grandma’s pasta with sauce. My grandparents grow their own tomatoes and then freeze so they can make fresh sauce all year long. I grew up with it (and my dad’s attempts to make it the same way). When she makes it, I have to give up the whole “New York small portion” mindset and just go all in because it’s incredible and filled with love.
Grandma’s famous cake that she makes for everyone’s birthday.
More ‘grammers from our past takeovers:
Student and Instagram sensation @college_housewife
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