Worldbuilding Through Culture

THE BIG QUESTIONS - Food & Drink

What follows for the next four chapters is a list of questions. Please take your time to think them through, and answer them in your own notes. There are no right or wrong answers, and you're always able to go back and change your mind later. And if these lists of questions raise more in you, answer those ones too!

FOOD & DRINK

What is their staple grain / food product?

What sort of climate do they live in and what kind of agriculture does that allow them to have?

Do they eat meat? Do they raise it? Hunt it? Fish for it?

Is food eaten cooked or raw?

Do they grow and process their own food?

Are they able to grow / gather / hunt for enough food for themselves, or do they need supplemental food?

Where do they buy supplementary food, and does it cost a lot? Do they trade for it? Do they barter?

Are there specialists like butchers or millers? How are they treated in society?

Are their services free or provided by the government, or are they wildly expensive?

Are there foods that are imported or exported?

Are exotic / difficult to grow or obtain foods expensive and a sign of largesse, or wastefulness?

What was your protagonist's childhood treat?

What food does your protagonist consider necessary and healthy, but yucky?

What is served for special occasions?

What happens to food waste? Is there any?

Does food have a religious connotation or ritual?

Is there a concept of a national or regional cuisine?

What food product, type of cuisine, or singular dish is your society's best known?

Can people have food allergies, and how widely known are they? Are they accommodated or ignored?

Do certain sects, classes, or segments of society eat foods prepared a certain way, or only have access to certain food products?

How is food distributed to those who can't afford to buy it? Are they fed at all? Are they fed well?

Is the water safe to drink? If not, what do they drink instead?

What do they do in times of famine and drought? Are they prepared in advance? Has this happened before?

How do they make food last longer?

Do they make and/or consume alcohol or hallucinogens? When and how? Recreationally or ritually?

Is food shared? Communal cooking and eating? Family-only? Solo-only? Who cooks?

Is all food delivered daily? What's the logistics system for that? Does everyone get the same meal?

Are there picky eaters? Is it normal or considered extremely rude to not like some foods?

What is considered good / bad table manners?

Are there cookbooks and recipes? Do they get shared or passed around?

Are there restaurants? Take-away meals?

What do they eat on the go? Do they eat while travelling?

Is eating in public normal, or weird, or rude?

Is being a chef / cook a profession? An art?

Is the kitchen a separate room of the domicile?

How do they heat and cook their food? A hearth? A stove? A fancy sci-fi microwave?

What do they drink, besides water?

How does a ready supply of fresh water get into the house?

Do they flavour water with tea, fruit, ground beans?

Do they drink the milk of other mammals?

What do they ferment drinks?

Do they have the ability to carbonize drinks?

Are certain kinds of drinks only for a certain segment of the population (age / class / ethnicity / religion /etc. )?