Upon registering for the course, I assumed the rhetoric of food was limited in categories and was solely based on different rhetorical strategies used when describing food that is eaten.
Now, I understand that the rhetoric of food stretches across a wide range of types, such as from recipes to annotated bibliographies, creating various relationships between the writer, text, and audience. The rhetoric of food chosen for the text is often determined by the author’s background and identity and the goal they wish to convey to the specific audience. Often there is strategic use of tone, images, and organization to suit the topic they cover and how they want the readers to react. A person’s experience and interest in food is often shaped by their cultural background, geographical locations visited, economic accessibility to certain foods, and even gender expectations that can unknowingly shape a person’s food choice (Western culture: females-salad; male-protein).
Therefore the rhetoric of food does apply strategies on the overarching subject of food, however, in a much larger context that considers the genre, goals, and identity of the author and the audience.
