Are there any unusual foods or growing circumstances in your world?

[Toby Frost]

1) Yes, this could be a huge digression and yes, including great chunks of unnecessary stuff in a novel about food probably would be dull and irrelevant. Small amounts might be interesting, though, and might make the world seem more solid.
2) Given that @Bramandin had said that he* has problems with plotting, this might be more of a rabbit-hole for him than for others. But I can't tell that.
3) Different people write in different ways, especially in this sort of world-building stuff, and inevitably with worldbuilding, a lot of the research and background won't appear in the finished novel (or oughtn't to).
4) Personally, unless a reasonable reader (whatever that is) would have serious questions about the food situation - enough to spoil the suspension of disbelief - I would leave most of this stuff out. But that's just me.


* I think you said you were a him. Apologies if not.

 

[Bramandin]

* I think you said you were a him. Apologies if not.

I'm not sure if I have a gender, but medically I'm female. I personally don't see what the fuss is about pronouns is anyway, especially not in a space where all genders are supposed to be equal.

This is a distraction as in my average reader probably won't see a lot of my world-building. It's not like I'm going to write a Monster-lover's Guide to Dirt and need a recipe for their Klah equivalent. My plotting problems is mainly that I don't usually have one and I got more interested in the minor characters than the ones I should have stayed on. It's like 20,000 Leagues and how today that whole pages of naming species would probably be unceremoniously chopped out. If my orphan is aware of where his food comes from and muses about the differences, it still might not make it to the readers and would serve more as a way to keep my fingers moving if I get stuck.

 

[Toby Frost]

Whoops, sorry! I'm not sure where I got that idea from!

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Going back to the original question, one of my early erotic novels is set in a female-led world where men are kept compliant through the use of a carefully cultivated herb in their food. Well, the herb does 60% of the job and the rest is achieved through ruthless sensuality and the occasional beating. Perhaps not my finest work, but still makes me chuckle.