Meetings as agriculture and food processing

The following may be used as metaphors to explore alternative ways of understanding meetings:< [1. Horticulture and gardening:]

A meeting may be seen as a garden of flowers, vegetables and other species (with "a hundred flowers blooming"). The challenge is to care appropriately for these species: to water, to cover, to prune, to weed, to encourage or reduce certain insects, etc.[2. Cooking:]

A meeting may be viewed as a menu of dishes amongst which participants select. Balance is important both in selecting the dishes an individual consumes (the art of the gourmet) and in combining the ingredients whereby a dish is prepared (the culinary art).

[3. Diet:]

A meeting may be viewed in terms of the dietary regime appropriate to participant nourishment, namely the quantity of carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins, interpreted as various kinds of information. The question of "calories", "exercise" and "obsesity" may also be raised.