I've read a great many books, and there are a ton of great moments I can recall from them; epic battles, the moment a plan that just fits is revealed, a surprising but inevitable conclusion that hits me in just the right way—and dialogue.

Dialogue that always seems to be interspersed with people eating. The characters could be eating anything. They could be two urchins sharing a rare meal stolen from a windowsill, an adventurer being served a meal at a tavern, a king digging into a feast, two splintery wooden tables shunted together that bear the last efforts of the leaders to heighten the moral of the rebellion—but I always remember people eating. Why?

The answer is the reason I don't instead remember floating heads talking to each other in a void. Description that intersperses dialogue is almost always better than dialogue by itself. Almost always. There are exceptions. And the reason I always seem to remember eating is that many authors seem to have inserted their most memorable quotes in scenes with descriptions of characters having a meal. It seems to be a staple of older authors to put their most poignant quotes in that kind of setting. There's no greater conflict going on in the description that might make the reader skip the dialogue, but it breaks up what would otherwise be paragraph after paragraph of realization and expostulation. Basically, it's filler text. It's meant to be skipped over to put emphasis on the dialogue.

But it used to be overdone. More contemporary books seem to have broken the trend and have their great moments of dialogue set in somewhere else, which is good—but for me, whenever I read a quotable line, I'll always be thinking, "Why isn't this character eating?"

If dialogue goes on for more than a paragraph or two, you will most likely need eating lines, flavor text that makes the reader remember that yes, the characters do have bodies. And bodies are never still. Unless they're dead or vampires, in which case you describe that stillness because it's unnatural.

Anyway. Eating text. Have it.

Sharing a meal is acceptable in many cultures, even in Middle eastern cultures depicted in the Bible. Like the Last Supper, the Passover meal shared by Jesus and his Disciples. There's a lot of dialogue going on in John's version of the story. There's two prophesies (Judas betraying Jesus, and Peter would deny knowing the Lord). Among other things, there is the Vine and Branches analogy and also the exhortation to Love one another and a lesson on serving others (washing the disciples feet).

In a MLP fic, you can have the Mane 6 have a meal together and have the group talk about their day.

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It's symbolic. The act of eating and sharing a meal has a lot of social significance since eating is something literally everyone has to do and it's often a group activity, something families and friends frequently do together. How a person eats tells you something about them, if they are sloppy or picky, enthusiastic or lacking in appetite, and whether or not that has anything to do with their situation or company.

It also matters how the meal is shared. Food that is offered and accepted signifies friendship and a relaxed, harmonious situation. In many cultures, hospitality was a very important virtue, particularly offering the guests something to eat - in traditional stories, failing to be a good host could often be a shorthand for moral flaws or even out-right villainy. Similarly, taking food from someone else without permission or through coercion signifies that the character doing so is dominating the other character, as does a character calmly enjoying a meal in a situation another finds tense or uncomfortable. Quentin Tarantino is known for using this kind of technique all the time in his movies.

Notably, while this is fairly universal, some cultures are more obsessed with food than others, like the French or Japanese, so the focus on food and eating is typically even more obvious in their fiction.

Well, that, and people eat bloody lots. Getting together over dinner is as good an opportunity to have a bit of conversation as any - it's a time when nobody's busy and everyone's present.

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In other modern works it is also helps to serve another equally important role as that of sharing exposition. One that could very well be the difference between the work in question making it published or not.

I mean, it's one thing to have a character ruminate on his borderline success, and another to do it while drinking a refreshing, sweet flavored pepsi, now new Pepsi Fire: Limited Edition Cinnamon Flavor.

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Some of the best times I've had was eating with folks.
Company lunches and dinners.
Eating with friends in fancy and not so fancy restaurants.
And of course Thanksgiving and the other family holidays.

Also when folks are eating, they are drinking too.
So you might end up with some truthful things being said.

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Well, I wouldn't call product placement a good reason, but it certainly is a reason. Then again, this is a show that pretty much just exist to sell dolls to little girls, so it's nothing if not in the spirit of the thing.

There's a practical component: nearby people you know can be busy throughout the day. And spread out too, doing very different things.

Eating is something all people do, and talking around a meal lets people relate on something that isn't related to status. Or doesn't have to be. Plenty of traditions built over that.

Also, if you bring up private matters in slow and fair fashion, it can often be more natural. Depending on customs. And sometimes they can't flee without abandoning their food! When you decide to eat with someone, it's an opening you're trusting them with. People will use it!

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I may seen dialogue while people eat in books, but not always. What's with the books you read?

And one of my stories I have a couple of the characters go to a restaurant and eat there and talk .