Farm, Food, and Festivity

Farm, Food, and Festivity

Authors Humphrey, Samuelson, and Humphrey write about using food as a text:

We eat … when we celebrate. In doing so, we do more than sustain the physical body. The foods consumed express a variety of messages about the individual and the culture some have to do with the sheer availability of the foods, their seasonality, their economic nature; others make powerful statements about status, tradition, and the nature of the particular context in which the foods are being consumed. As Roland Barthes suggests, food is “a system of communication, a body of images, a protocol of usages, situations, and behavior.” Foods become metaphor and metonym, expressing not only the fundamental assumptions or world view of individuals and groups but also the emotion associations.

It is within festive contexts that the transformation from staple to symbol becomes most apparent The complex of behaviors associated with selecting, preparing, serving, and consuming foods creates a symbolic vocabulary of the basic assumptions of the community, with meaning and significance that may or may not rise to the conscious level. Over time with continuity and consistency in performance the separate elements fuse into a symbolic language (1-3).

Analyze (small component) and explicate (the bigger picture) the food in the festivities of shivaree, rabbit round-ups, combine derbies, and The Corn Palace Festival, then discuss how they contribute to our understanding of the farm and farmers. Pay special attention to the title of the section we’re working within – “the reality of farming.”

Please, please, please connect farm festivities that you have attended, if you’d like.

Reference: Humphrey, Theodore C., Sue Samuelson, and Lin T. Humphrey. Introduction. “We Gather Together”: Food and Festival in American Life. Logan, UT: USU P, 1988. Print.

AS ALWAYS

Your first original post should be submitted before 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Your response to classmates’ posts should be completed before 10:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Grading:

Grading will be based on the same rubric as posts on your blog. You should develop original, complex ideas that go beyond surface reading (we’ve all read the same thing, so a simple review is not what I’m looking for).

Introduce fresh material, This may require additional research.
Each post should be written as a complete thought.
Identify your topic
Narrow the topic by telling your audience your point of view on a specific point
Show your audience what you mean by offering evidence
Conclude
A good test of whether or not it is a complete thought is if you can remove it from the discussion and have it still make sense
Responses to classmates’ posts should always have a “because” clause
Use appropriate netiquette. Nobody should feel attacked Link
Discussion Rubric
Participation – original post 3
Research – introduces fresh material 3
Discussion – responds to at least one classmate’s post 2
Writing Mechanics – free of errors 2
Submission:

Typing on the discussion board automatically shows up as your submission, so additional submission is not required.