As the fear of the obesity epidemic rises, food is seen more an more as simply something one has to cut back on. Lunch is no longer a joyful time to cherish, but a disappointing time spent in front of a microwave. Not everyone has succumbed to this despair, however, and a lot of people are compensating for smaller, healthier, portions, with beautiful aesthetics. Here are 10 beautiful and mystifying artworks made out of cuisine:

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Bento boxes are single portion takeouts and home prepared meals that are extremely popular in Japanese culture. Some people take it very seriously, and love to turn an otherwise mundane preparation into an applause worthy artistic expression. One can only imagine how difficult it would be to start chowing down if your microwave meal was being oohed and aaahed as much as one of these preparations would be.

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Chocolate portraits are an increasingly popular artistic expression. The concentration here is on appearance, not taste, so they may not taste as great as you’d think, but they certainly are eye-catching. Chocolate has the advantage of coming in a variety of colors and hues, and being both malleable and hard enough to maintain its form. Through sculpture and careful pouring and manipulation, chocolate artists can create incredibly realistic depictions.

(Images via pixdaus, jorymon)

Nothing spices up a pot luck like strategically arraying your food into a classic painting or character portrait. Such simple and intriguing displays are a bit inspiring. How much harder would it be to add a few distinctive features to your otherwise mundane dish? You may not want to tackle the Mona Lisa the next time you set out cheese and crackers, but a nice smiley face never hurts.

(Images via obesityhelp, popfi, funnypictures, guardian)

Some believe that higher powers work in mysterious ways… whether these are examples of this, or just fortuitous coincidence, is hard to say. Regardless of the source of these inspirational portraits, nobody can deny they’re intriguing. The phenomenon of seeing Jesus’ face in random food products (like the cheeto, naan, potato chip, and fish stick pictured above), isn’t constrained to the food itself:

(Images via bitchspot, popfi)

Household items can showcase unearthly portraits as easily as a potato chip. Whether you find excitement over these occurrences ridiculous or spiritual, they’re definitely interesting.

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Sushi is delicious, and no one will argue that the taste of a good sushi roll can be affected by the artistry of its creation, and its appearance on the plate. There are some who take this to an extreme. A portrait of President Obama and the face of a friendly panda may have been the inspiration for a sushi vinyl toy that does not look happy to be on the plate.

(Images via foundshit, geekologie, break4fun, insomniadiaries)

Meat is something a lot of people like to eat, and it’s also something a lot of people don’t like to think about. Whether you’re a meat lover or not, the above sculpted artworks are a bit nauseating, and very unique. After taking a look at this assemblage of strange sculptures, it will be hard to see a muscle car the same way again.

(Images via panric, pxleyes, saufnase)

For artists with a photographic and technological bent, food is more enjoyable to manipulate with photoshop. Mixing and matching different objects in entertaining and shocking ways is a great way to catch someone’s attention and show off your skills with photo manipulation.

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Artists choose a variety of strange materials, and food is no exception. Some artists love taking the everyday and turning them into something more powerful. A good photo changes an otherwise temporary piece of art into something that can brighten up someone’s day for as long as the internet is around.

(Images via philagrafika, hackedgadgets, blisstree)

Toast is the foundation for any good breakfast, in television commercials, and in the average home. One might say toast is both the most common and most boring part of breakfast, but new technology aims to change that. Possibly inspired by the faces of Jesus that kept appearing on slices of bread, some engineers put together a toast printer that can imprint any image you’d like onto a piece of white or wheat. Some versions work like a real printer with the bread as paper, while others use an external tool to burn the decorations. However it’s done, it sure seems like a lot of fun!