Twitter Is Not Happy About This Meal Prepping Idea

Food stylists know a thing or two about how to present a meal. And there’s some merit to the notion of focusing on how food looks: Some research has found that the way food is presented can make it more (or less) appetizing for the individual consuming it.

Last week, food stylist Dominique Eloise Alexander, author of Jar Food: Recipes For On-the-Go, shared her tips with The Independent on how to make your lunch delicious and fun to look at (read: Instagram-worthy). Unfortunately for Alexander, readers were not impressed.

In the piece, Alexander advises nixing Tupperware and opting for jars instead. Clear jars give you a good view of your meal that’s not tainted by stained containers. With her skills, Alexander makes frittatas, sandwiches, and salads into a visual masterpiece.

While they make for a nice picture, the jury is still out on whether it’s functional and efficient for people on the go. That said, the jury in the world of Twitter came out with their verdict strongly: a hard no. Readers took to Twitter to poke fun of putting meals in jars and question Alexander’s advice.

As Food52 notes, however, some dishes work (say, soups or salads) while others (like sandwiches) simply don’t. And in Alexander’s defense, a visually appealing lunch makes an otherwise dreary meal more exciting. But maybe we can live in a world where we can have aesthetic food and not stuff our sandwiches in jars.