Victuals Go Viral

I started following the Instagram account New Fork City in high school when a friend raved to me about her discovery. I religiously devoured mouthwatering images of mac and cheese crisped with sugar and banana bread pancakes drenched in maple syrup.

Little did I know that two years later I would not only attend the same college as the creator of this foodie culture sensation, Gillian Presto ’18, but we’d be sorority sisters in Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Nearly 400,000 followers—among them celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Ashley Benson—have found their way to this famous feed by word of mouth.

Presto explains that one November morning in 2013, she and two high-school friends decided to create an account dedicated to food. “We were doing it for the love of taking pictures of food. It turned into something bigger than I had ever imagined.”

New Fork City has expanded with both a Tumblr account and blog. Presto is currently using her economics major to identify ways to monetize the account and gain recognition for her creative mind.

“We are definitely trying to create a business out of it,” says Presto. “I can’t imagine not doing it at this point.”

—Lila Silver ’17