When signing up for this class, the rhetoric of food, I assumed that I would be reading and writing recipes or something similar for a semester. In my mind, that was the only form of food writing I could think of. At the end of this class, I can say that there is so much more that goes into this genre. Starting with recipes even, I had never really seen this kind of writing as a form of literary expression. Maybe because my oven hadn’t felt warmth in over a semester and my microwave is my best friend, I wasn’t familiar with the variety of recipe narratives that we analyzed at the beginning of this semester. However, I soon began to realize that food writing serves as an outlet for creative expression and can have many different purposes. It can be used to tell a personal narrative, to review a restaurant, to advocate for change, to investigate food and nutrition related issues or to write informative annotated bibliographies over food-related texts, to just name a few. Food writing makes a significant contribution to the literary world and it too often gets overlooked.

I’ve also learned that audience varies significantly between food texts and being conscious of who is reading your writing makes for a successful delivery. I have realized this through my own trial and error throughout this class and feel that I’ve grown in my ability to identify my audience and write accordingly. Lastly, I’ve learned that a lot of our identity comes from our relationship with food. The aroma of spicy homemade chili reminds me of memories spent with my grandma, the salty crunch of tostones reminds me of where I come from and the sight of sprinkles and frosting takes me to Christmas Eve with my family. My connection to food has always been present. Now, I know how to express it in words.