ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at ideologies about how language is a form of food, sometimes nourishing, sometimes poisonous. The prevalence of food metaphors such as healthy debate, juicy gossip, and half-baked ideas are examined in light of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity, which suggests that the consumption of linguistic forms influences our worldviews. Theories of language acquisition, including the “language gap” ideology that presumes children must be fed better language to succeed in American society, are critically reviewed from the perspective of the language socialization paradigm, according to which it is understood that children may be linguistically nourished in many culturally healthy ways. The chapter concludes by looking at examples of food-and-language socialization whereby children learn both their alimentary and communicative competence through social interaction around and about food at home, at school, and with peers. The vignettes probe food-and-language socialization and immigrant identities in the family and classroom.
