This thesis explores food symbols by constellating working-class experiences. The challenge of examining working-class food symbols is not in identification of the symbols, but rather in understanding how certain foods come to represent certain stories. This thesis identifies and analyzes three foods (white bread, casseroles, and greens), to explore the commonalities among working-class foods. Utilizing storytelling as methodology, this thesis demonstrates the messy reality of meaning-making. By placing a variety of working-class stories in context with one another, this thesis explores the encounters that shape my understanding of working-class culture. Encounters with stories (through experiences, narratives), other people (or relations), and the places and spaces I inhabit. In constellating my own encounters through each food, I examine not just what makes a food working-class or a symbol, but I also reflect on my own identity as a working-class person.
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