The Rhetoric of Food

My attempt at a definition:  The ability to type food related words out on a Macbook/PC of your choice while simultaneously grasping a cup of caffeine and staring down deadlines.  Pairs well with a lack of sleep, a sound diet and any semblance of a social life.  May also take the form of texts, videos and audio files with subjects ranging from schweddy balls to the weirdest definition of camp I’ve ever read in my life.  Extensive use of auto-correct and spelling suggestions via Google.

Though food is a biological necessity, writing about our interactions with food helps establish and reinforce social constructs.  As with anything we humans get our hands on, the rhetoric of food can be as simple as a recipe passed down within a family to discussing and describing topics such as “food deserts” and the very visceral impact they have on healthy life expectancy.   The rhetoric of food includes narratives that can be make you laugh at the same time questioning your next trip to Red Lobster.  It’s about division and inclusion.  This class helped us discuss the duality of food.  It’s about texts describing the lowly tortilla, while at the same time enlightening us to the amazing byproduct of the nixtamal process.   I highly recommend this class.

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