The Most Popular Vegan Food Isn’t Lettuce
According to Google searches, the most popular vegan food in the world right now is cake — rich, frosted, indulgent. Proof that even in vegan form, people still crave pleasure.
But when most people hear vegan, they don’t picture dessert. They picture lettuce — green, crisp, unmistakably vegan. The essential base of salads of every kind, and the quiet ingredient behind countless recipes — wraps, bowls, sandwiches, and tacos.
So that’s what I photographed. Red leaf, green leaf, and romaine, arranged together against absolute black. No plate, no dressing. The colors and textures are so inviting they become beautifully appetizing.
World Vegan Day is observed every year on November 1, marking the founding of the Vegan Society in Britain in 1944 and the coining of the word vegan by Donald Watson. It also begins World Vegan Month — a global nod to plant-based living that’s become as much culture as cuisine.
For more, visit my Commercial Food Photography gallery at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
National Pasta Day — Penne Rigate
Somewhere between the art of simplicity and the science of starch, we find pasta. Today, National Pasta Day gives everyone a reason to twirl, scoop, or simply stare.
This is De Cecco Penne Rigate — cooked plain, no sauce, no garnish, just the shape itself. Its ridged tubes catch light like sculpture, emphasizing design over indulgence. Spaghetti may dominate every chart of popularity, but penne holds its ground as the world’s second favorite — a form engineered to hold flavor and look good doing it.
Pasta’s lineage stretches back more than 700 years, from the first written mentions in Sicily to its industrial rise in the 19th century. Whether on a plate, in a bowl, or on black aluminum, its appeal is constant: geometry, texture, and the quiet perfection of repetition.
You can see more of my work in Commercial Food Photography at https://www.secondfocus.com/gallery/Commercial-Food-Photography/G0000Tnt.HM3Xwng
International Pizza and Beer Day Because Some Pairings Just Work
Apparently, there’s a day for almost everything now — and today it’s International Pizza and Beer Day. Somewhere between the invention of the calendar and the internet’s obsession with food holidays, we ended up with a reason to toast to pepperoni and foam.
The scene says it all: two friends, a beach, the last rays of the day, and a pizza waiting patiently between them. Maybe it’s celebration. Maybe it’s strategy. Either way, it’s hard to argue with the logic — some pairings just work.
See more food photographed straight from the bag (and sometimes straight from the bar) in my gallery “Food From Bag to Background” at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000wQ3fbeEezF0
For clean, commercial food imagery, visit “Commercial Food Photography” at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
Emily Said I’d Like Sierra — She Was Right
Today is National Guacamole Day and I was thinking my way through what to photograph for it. So I turned to my all-around AI assistant, Emily, for her take. No surprise, she told me she had a beautiful friend named Sierra who knew a little beachfront café with the best guacamole. Emily said I’d really like her — and that she loves being in front of the camera.
So I met Sierra. There she was — margarita in hand, guacamole on the table, and leaning forward like she already knew how the conversation would go.
And the guacamole? Emily wasn’t wrong. It’s not just any dip. It traces back to the Aztecs in the 1500s, when it was called ahuacamolli — “avocado sauce.” A recipe so good it’s lasted half a millennium, only to end up here with Sierra on a sunny boardwalk, looking at me like she’s part of the tradition.
If Emily keeps introducing me to friends like Sierra, National Guacamole Day may need more space on the calendar.
More guacamole and other food to enjoy at the ocean or elsewhere are in my Commercial Food Photography gallery on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
And I have a feeling we’ll be seeing more of Sierra.
Bananas To Go
Today is National Banana Lovers Day. And what better way to honor it than with a box of sliced bananas neatly packed in a to-go container?
Because apparently, some banana lovers can’t be satisfied with nature’s original packaging. The peel, perfectly engineered for portability, wasn’t quite enough — so now we slice, box, and present them like fast food.
But let’s be honest: bananas have always been the ultimate grab-and-go item. You don’t need a clamshell, a plastic fork, or a drive-thru. Just peel, eat, and you’re done. Convenience food long before we invented the phrase.
Still, for today, let’s indulge the idea: bananas made ready like fries, carried out in a black plastic tray for those who want their fruit served with a touch of takeout flair.
Happy National Banana Lovers Day — however you choose to take yours to go.
Would you like more than Bananas? Check out my Commercial Food Gallery on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU Thanks!
A Salad? On National Drive-Thru Day?
Yes, I realize the timing.
It’s National Drive-Thru Day — a moment made for burgers, tacos, chicken sandwiches, and anything handed to you through a window in under 30 seconds. Meanwhile, here I am posting a photo of… salad.
This isn’t part of my From Bag to Background project, which documents fast food in all its honest, unapologetic glory. No, this one came from a grocery store, not a drive-thru. A bagged salad mix — iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, red cabbage — plated and lit like it was headed for a cookbook instead of a combo meal.
It’s a departure, but still part of the story. While most of my food photography embraces the fast and familiar reality of what we actually eat, there’s room in my Commercial Food Photography gallery for the occasional raw vegetable.
👉 View the gallery here at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU
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