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philosophy of food

Philosophy of Food | Friday, period 1

Hannibal arranged everything on the desk, then waited for the students to arrive, smiling as they came in.

Once they were there, he leaned against the desk and began. "Last week, we discussed what makes us see something as food. There are various reasons you may or may not see something as food that another person does. This week, the question is: Why do we eat?"

He waved at the food and drink behind him. "There are the obvious answers; most people will start with, 'we eat because we're hungry'. But it's rarely so clear-cut. Each section I've set up is a pair of foods. You may eat or drink only one from each pair. Choose one - or neither - and explain to us why. Feel free to debate it with each other as well, and to ask me or each other questions."

He leaned forward. "Remember, there are no wrong answers; the idea is to think about it."

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"Cotton candy," Hannibal explained, pointing at the pale purple threads. "It's not so fluffy as the mass-produced stuff, and the dye is cabbage-based, though I assure you you won't taste it. And chocolate, anise, and sea-salt toffee."

Ohhh, now, this was a tricky one, while the others had all been no-brainers for Summer. Because it involved sugar in very appealing forms, but, let's face it, almost all sugar was an appealing form of sugar in this current stage of her life. The description of the cabbage in the cotton candy did wrinkle her nose a bit, making her a little doubtful, but...fluffy spun sugar goodness! It just melted right in your mouth and made your fingers all sticky, which just made her think of good childhood memories, but on the other hand, chocolate. Chocolate was chocolate was chocolate....

"Ummmmm. Chocolate," she finally decided, grabbing a piece, so she could nibble and savor for whatever remained of class. "Because I'm not five."

Sure. She'll just keep telling herself that.

"Why would that make a difference?" Hannibal asked.

"That's, like, pure sugar," Summer said, nodding at the cotton candy. "Kid stuff. Chocolate's pretty sugary, too, but it's a lot more refined, wouldn't you say? Besides, cotton candy's good for carnivals and fairs and movies, but chocolate is good any time."

"So, location also matters when determining food," Hannibal summarized. "And age."

"It can," Summer agreed, "and some foods can really trigger nostalgia for those certain locations and ages, too, which is pretty cool."

And why food was important instead of diets of dumb supplement pills.

Hannibal would be utterly aghast at the diet of pills.

"They can." Hannibal smiled. "Smell is a powerful memory trigger, and a large component of flavor."

"Yeah, exactly," Summer smiled. "So cotton candy just makes me think of being five again, at the fair with my parents and my little baby brother. Which isn't a bad thing, but, you know, there's a time and a place."

Hannibal nodded. "So, we begin to see the reasons we eat aren't so simple as 'because we're hungry'."

"The toffee," Eric decided, without much hesitation. "Mostly because I'd want to try making it myself."

Hannibal grinned. "I can provide you with the recipe, if you like. So, food can fuel imagination as well as body."

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Philosophy of Food | Friday, period 1

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