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fandomhigh2014-08-01 01:27 pm
sharp_as_knives) wrote in fandomhigh2014-08-01 01:27 pm
Entry tags:
Philosophy of Food, Friday period 3
There was no food on the table today.
"Before we begin," Hannibal started, "as we are now halfway through this session, I encourage you to discuss your class project with me now or during office hours, so that we can schedule time." He nodded to them.
"So." He sat on the edge of the desk. "To this point, we've mostly discussed how we approach food due to other influences, such as culture. Now, we turn that around. How is food itself an influence on other parts of life?" he asked.
"The types and amounts of food available to a culture, the sorts of foods that are valued as delicacies and the sorts that are discarded - these all can help to dictate the development of society, not to mention arts and leisure activities. We still evaluate earlier cultures on the basis of whether they were hunter-gatherers or agricultural," he pointed out.
"In each of your cultures, what foods are common or valued, and what expectations or industries or cultures have grown up around them? Beyond that, how much a part of your routine revolves around food? Do you cook, eat in the cafeteria, order food - and how does that change your day? The picnic to welcome us here - what would you have thought if it didn't include food? What about the fact that I've set out no food today - have you come to expect it? How has that expectation altered your behavior and thinking?"
He sat back and waited.
"Before we begin," Hannibal started, "as we are now halfway through this session, I encourage you to discuss your class project with me now or during office hours, so that we can schedule time." He nodded to them.
"So." He sat on the edge of the desk. "To this point, we've mostly discussed how we approach food due to other influences, such as culture. Now, we turn that around. How is food itself an influence on other parts of life?" he asked.
"The types and amounts of food available to a culture, the sorts of foods that are valued as delicacies and the sorts that are discarded - these all can help to dictate the development of society, not to mention arts and leisure activities. We still evaluate earlier cultures on the basis of whether they were hunter-gatherers or agricultural," he pointed out.
"In each of your cultures, what foods are common or valued, and what expectations or industries or cultures have grown up around them? Beyond that, how much a part of your routine revolves around food? Do you cook, eat in the cafeteria, order food - and how does that change your day? The picnic to welcome us here - what would you have thought if it didn't include food? What about the fact that I've set out no food today - have you come to expect it? How has that expectation altered your behavior and thinking?"
He sat back and waited.
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
"Excuse me, Doctor Lecter?"
He had a technical difficulty when it came to that whole 'food traditional to your upbringing' thing.
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
Hannibal was not impressed by your unreal-family-angsty-clone childhood, Evan. He still did not want to read an essay.
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
"I was hoping maybe I could talk to you about the semester assignment? I have a few questions."
He was at least going to try to make this as painless as possible!
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
"I guess... I just want some clarification about the nature of the assignment," he settled on. "The syllabus says you want us to teach you how to prepare a food traditional to our upbringing, and I wanted to know just how loosely that could be interpreted. Does it have to strictly be food that I remember eating, or food that I was fed, or can I explore foods that are more traditional to my ancestry?"
All three of those were very different things.
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
He wasn't entirely sure how "food you were fed" was different from "food you remembered eating", but he had a suspicion it wasn't pleasant, and chose to ignore that part. "What's important is that you think about food within a larger context, and prove to me that you can do so."
And not write an essay. That would be rude. Surely you didn't want to be rude, Evan.
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
Evan nodded thoughtfully all the same. He was... pretty sure he could handle this, and do so without producing an absolute mess of inedible garbage while he was at it.
"The 'larger context' thing, I can do. I'm actually looking forward to exploring it, now that you've clarified," Evan offered. "I'm not afraid of trying to cook. I was just... having difficulty figuring out what to base my presentation on in the first place."
Re: Talk to Hannibal!
Hannibal nodded. "In that case, I look forward to seeing what you decide upon."