I agree, but I see this as a client-concern. I could imagine clients fetching and inlining images if the user directed it to, or maybe media-focused clients having a text pane alongside a media pane where the images would be rendered. The main advantage I see of this approach is that it takes us from "the server decides what the client does" to "the client decides what the client does".

Ok, but the recipe maker is going to want to suggest where to put the images (so they are in the proper spot on the recipe).... at which point, how is that different than html? A client can decide not to render the image where it is suggested already.