One of my biggest passions in life is food. I love (not an over exaggeration)finding recipes, creating a shopping list, prepping food, cooking food, entertaining with food, and OF COURSE eating food. Thus, it is my honest belief that the human being is programed to in fact plan his/her entire life around obtaining, preparing, and consuming food. Humans are after all animals, and we all NEED food to survive. Now, I understand subsidence in general is necessary for my survival, but I am in LOVE with food. I realized this more than ever as I sat in my Folklore class pretending to take notes on my laptop when in fact I was actually salivating over the online Kentucky Fried Chicken menu (Yeah, KFC has an online menu). It was not until the random acquittance to my left glanced at my screen, and she asked "Are you...are you seriously looking up fast food menus during lecture?"
This bizarre sentence intrigued our neighboring random classroom acquaintances which then captured the attention of the professor. Needless to say I was thoroughly embarrassed for allowing my admitted obsession with food impede upon my learning experience, but as I began to examine the topic of folklore I discovered food is embedded within many cultures. I mean manna within Christianity is often associated with God's promise to provide for his people. In fact, the representation of bread and wine during mass is symbolic of the sacrificial blood and flesh of Jesus. Religious connections aside, there is food in literature folklore as well. The house made of candy, gingerbread, and all other sorts of goodies in the children's story Hansel and Gretel is a prominate presence of food in folklore. Food in cultural folklore exists: chocolate bunnies and Easter, Valentine's Day and chocolate, St. Patrick's Day and Beer; turkey and Thanksgiving; the apple in Snow White; hot dogs and the Fourth of July. Food is present within our culture and deeply embedded within our culture's folklore.
Food is also present within our regional folklore: Rocky Mountain Oysters; Sonoran Hot Dogs; Freedom Fries; Fried chicken and ocra; sweet tea. When I visit my hometown (Beaufort, South Carolina) over summers sweet tea is on every menu from Sonic to four star resort restaurants, and many local stories and legends involve the drink that defines Southern culture and hospitality. Food folklore is everywhere, so I believe I have foundt he topic for my midterm paper.
--Nikki
p.s.
Just downed some sweet tea and ate some Krispy Kreme.
So as I was reading your blog, I suddenly got hungry. Which is really strange because I was not hungry before I started reading your blog. Crazy. I agree with you that food is a huge part of our society. I think this would be a very interesting topic for your midterm and I don't think it was been done! Food is represented in all cultures around the world. Not only do we need food to survive, food kinda tells us about who we are. In different places around the world, people eat different foods, but why? Why does everyone just eat the same thing. Mexico is know for its tacos, burritos and chimis. Then you have New York that is overly protective of their thin crust pizza. While Chicago is sure that deep dish is the best. Food is a huge part of our culture and it always will be.
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