Closing thoughts: The story of food

The cornucopia- a display of an abundance of food-  is often a symbol of prosperity. Source.

Food is weird. Let me start there. There's countless variations, countless different tastes. Some will make us violently ill while others we can't get enough of, and no two people like all the same food. Humans are obsessed with food. We celebrate it in our songs, our art, and our stories.

Through writing these posts, I have learnt to look differently at the stories I grew up with, observing them through the lens of food and seeing just how big a role it plays. I have only begun to understand how great a tool food can be for imparting wisdom as well as building  better story. Food evokes primitive reactions within us, allowing the audience of a folk tale to immediately connect with a story that features food as a main element. In The Little Red Hen, food becomes an ideological conduit, promoting the benefits of shared labour and patience as well as a divider between maturity and dependence. In Donkeyskin and "All Fur", food was a messenger of emotions and secrets. The princess is unable to admit to her true identity or to her desire to return to her past life, and so expresses it through the most visceral medium she has at her disposal- food. That her beloved consumes this creates an extra intimacy that rises from the idea of sustaining those closest to us, and in accepting the food, he accepts the princess. Religion and mythology branch out to show the deceptive tone that food can take on, but ultimately, the food itself is still an object of desire, celebrated physically if not for its connotations. I think Anansi's stories help conclude my search of folk and fairy tales because his reactions resonate with all of us; food, in and of itself, regardless of the metaphors, lessons and parables we apply to it, is delicious.