(Originally posted on June 9, 2014.)

Alice in Wonderland

One thing I’ve seen brought up a lot when it comes to adventure fantasy is: what and when do the characters eat?  Oddly enough, you don’t see meals that often and the heroes never go hungry unless it’s essential to the plot.  Starvation and hunting are very useful plot points to show how difficult it is to survive in the wild.  Yet, it’s almost a passing thought and you don’t see it delved into.

In a series that I’m still reading through, Ranger’s Apprentice, there are several times where the characters talk over coffee.  I use something similar where meals are the backdrop for important meetings.  I can never say my heroes go hungry unless Luke does his thing that can burn through most of his caloric intake.  There are points where I think I overuse the setting, but it does make sense.  Preparing or in the middle of an adventure, the break you take to talk is a time to eat too.  Not much different from the real world.  We celebrate events with food, have food at meetings, and even give away some food as prizes or thank yous.  You do get a cookie for giving blood, right?

Personally, I see food in fiction as another window into the world.  If your story is on Earth then you can look up real dishes that relate to your characters’ cultures and locations.  If your story is another world then you can go wild.  A fish that’s as spicy as a ghost pepper?  Apples that can satisfy you for an entire day?  Everyone living creature (and unliving) eat something, so it’s an area that is worthwhile investigating.  The scenes where they come up can be used for character development too.  For example, Nyx loves spicy food and Sari isn’t too big a fan of seafood.

So, what do other people think of food or eating being included in stories?