This is the god of whatever food is the basis for a culture's survival — usually grain, but for a steppe people it might be grass for animals and for a coastal people it might be fish, or whatever is appropriate to a given environment. Because of their inherently lifegiving portfolio, these tend to be among the nicest or friendliest of gods.
Often a Love God as well to associate different types of fertility. For Older Than Dirt cultures who considered food a type of currency, these deities could also be a type of wealth god.
Compare Anthropomorphic Vice, which are Anthropomorphic Personifications of various vices, including food and drink; and Supreme Chef, who fulfills the other, more figurative sense of "food god". This is often one specific function of a Fertility God.
Not to be confused with Foodgōd, the new moniker of Kim Kardashian's friend Jonathan Cheban.
Examples
- Dundee's Honey Brown Lager beer foisted the "beer god" concept in their commercials. It's an ugly little stone figurine that purports to know which beer is the best. The beer god lasted only one summer.
- Lucoa from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid is a former goddess of agriculture and wisdom (in keeping with her being a Gender Flip of Quetzalcoatl). Despite no longer being divine, she still feels a subconscious desire to aid farmers, and one chapter of Kanna's Daily Life shows that she does volunteer farmwork in her spare time.
- Wonder Woman: While the original comics took little from Classical Mythology beyond a few names the Post-Crisis comics made sure to depict Demeter's tie to grain and Dionysus' tie to grapes. Dionysus even chooses to manifest with a curly purple hair and beard that look like grapes in most of his appearances.
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water: Sandy loses her mind after finding the book page of the bikini bottom story so she begins to theorise where she came from and comes to the conclusion that a food god wants a sacrifice so the krabby patties will come raining from the sky.
- In The Powder Mage Trilogy, one of the gods has incarnated as a chef, who provides gourmet food in effectively infinite quantities in the army's camp kitchens.
- The Discworld has many:
- The Hogfather, in addition to being a Santa Claus Expy, has elements of this, specializing in pork products.
- Epidity, God of Potatoes, lord of a Potato Cult.
- There is a God of Custard, Nog-Humpty
- While the details are obscure, the Grace Bissonomy has divine associations with both oysters, or perhaps bivalve aquatic mollusks in general, and is depicted in iconography as brandishing a bunch of root vegetables that might be parsnips. Or perhaps carrots.
- Small Gods briefly mentions a God of Lettuce.
- Dark Shores: Yara, goddess of the earth and everything that grows from it. Particularly worshipped by the peaceful farmers of Katamarca.
- Fengshen Yanyi: the prince of Shang Yin Hong is deified as the God of Five Crops at the end of the novel. The Four Mo Brothers also become the Lokapala/Heavenly Kings of Buddhism, with the ulterior task of monitoring good weather to grant abundant food to farmers.
- Prior to the events of Spice and Wolf, Holo acted as the harvest goddess for a small town.
- In Game of Thrones, the people of the Summer Isles worship a god of "tits and wine". Tyrion is rather impressed.
- Classical Mythology:
- The Greeks had an interesting twist on this in that multiple gods had this role depending on what particular food you were talking about. The general agricultural goddess was Demeter, but her remit was primarily the annual grain crop that served as the basis for the rest of the Greek diet. However, that covered only one of the "Mediterranean triad" of bread, wine, and olive oil. The grapes were assigned to Dionysos (which makes sense, given his general "god of partying" role) and Athena was generally recognized as the patron of olives (for unclear reasons, though the fact that she was the patroness of Attica—home to Classical Greece's best and most extensive olive groves—probably had something to do with it). Also, what with Greece being made up of a peninsula and a bunch of islands, the Greeks were (and are) big on fish and other seafood; the sea god Poseidon thus also had a food role, being invoked for a good catch (especially for tuna).
- Mars was the Roman god of agriculture as well as of war, and was particularly associated with livestock. Sensible considering how regardless of what politicians might think, an ordinary legionary's motive could be summarized as "get those blankety-blanks off my property and take some of theirs while we’re at it".
- Shintoism:
- The Japanese idiom "There are seven gods in each grain of rice" is equivalent to the old "starving children in Africa" warning about wasting food. It refers to the belief that there are seven rice gods, and wasting even one grain of rice may draw a curse from one of them.
- In Shinto mythology, the goddess Uke Mochi was able to vomit up or spit out food. When her brother Tsukuyomi discovered her method of food production, he was so disgusted that he killed her.
- Inari
, arguably the most popular god in Shinto, was originally a god of rice but gained a much broader portfolio over time.
- Norse Mythology:
- Idunn was the goddess of youth and apples.
- Njord was the god of the seas, especially over fish and fishery. As a result he also doubled as a fertility god and was often presented as hermaphroditic.
- Njord's son Frey was the god of the harvest, especially associated with grain in Denmark and Sweden. In Norway and Iceland he is more strongly associated with horses.
- Kvasir was a minor deity associated with honey, and more importantly mead (mead being said to have been made from his blood).
- In Pi Shashin, a strain of Tengriism found in parts of Mongolia, the deity Pi is often associated with baked goods.
- Mesopotamian Mythology
- Ashnan a goddess of grain, seen within the Sumerian Creation myth, "Myth of cattle and grain".
- Enkimdu is another god of farming, and a prototype of the wealthy, healthy, and wise farmer.
- Lathar cattle god.
- Dumuzid is believed to have been a god of sheep and shepherding.
- In Taíno Mythology, the creator and fertility god Yucáhu is also the god of cassava.
- Aztec Mythology has Chicomecoatl, a fertility goddess who was also the guardian of maize (better known as corn).
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Forgotten Realms setting
- Chauntea is the main Faerunian goddess of farmers and agriculture.
- Isis/Ishtar is the Mulhorandi pantheon's goddess of agriculture.
- In the Zakharan pantheon Jisan is a goddess of fertility.
- Angharradh is the elven goddess of fertility and planting.
- Hiatea is the giants' goddess of agriculture.
- In the halfling pantheon, the agriculture goddess is Sheela Peryroyl.
- Greyhawk setting.
- Merikka is the Oeridian demigoddess of farming and agriculture.
- Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia
- Shang-Ti was the Chinese deity of (among other things) agriculture.
- In the Native American pantheon the wind god Hotoru could help crop growth.
- Central American mythos. In addition to being the deity of medicine, Itzamna was also involved in the planting of crops. The god Tlaloc had four pitchers, one of which caused crops to grow properly.
- Forgotten Realms setting
- Exalted: Ahlat, the Southern god of war, is also a deity of cattle and ranching. He began his career as a cattle god specifically, before expanding his purview to include cattle raids and progressing from there to being a deity of combat and raiding as a way of providing food, resources, and glory.
- Pathfinder: Erastil, one of the oldest gods, is generally associated with nature, but especially with agriculture and hunting and the close-knit communities that tend to rely on them.
- RuneQuest:
- Barntar the Plowman is the god of farmers, the honest carls who work hard to feed the people of their clan and bloodline. He taught sowing and the harnessing of oxen to mankind and, when he followed his mother into the Underworld during the Great Darkness, farming was largely lost to mortals.
- Eiritha the Herd Mother is the mother of cattle, and the source of fecundity and rich milk for all hooved and horned creatures. Praxian nomads are utterly dependent upon Eiritha for their daily existence, and she is of considerable importance to pastoralist people throughout Genertela.
- Foundchild taught his followers how to use the weapons of war to bring life by killing animals to eat, and is worshipped by nomads, hunter-gatherers, and agriculturalists who supplement their regular diet with game.
- The Grain Goddesses are each the deity of a specific type of grain and the main agricultural deities for various regions of Genertela. The main ones are Esrola, the goddess of einkhorn wheat; Frona, of rye; Kralora, of white, brown, and blue rice; Peloria, of barley; Everina, of red rice; Ralia, of spelt wheat; Seshna Likita, of oats; Slonta, of millet; and Teshna, of black rice.
- Hon-eel discovered maize in the Sky and introduced it to the Lunar Empire. In farming communities where maize is grown, it can be assumed that all people are lay members of the cult, for each person benefits from Hon-eel's gifts and worships her for it.
- Warhammer Fantasy:
- Two of humanity's oldest deities are the nature gods Taal and Rhya, who govern the hunt and the harvest respectively. Some regions put different emphasis on their roles, like attributing fishing to Taal or animal husbandry to Rhya, but they're always the ones people look to to put food on the table.
- The Halflings' primary goddess Esmerelda shares their love of food: her main festival is Pie Day and her commandments emphasize preparing and sharing good meals.
- Valaya is the dwarf Ancestor Goddess of hearth and home, healing, and brewing. The "brewing" part is Serious Business: beer is both a respected craft and a staple food to dwarfs, and she's one of the pantheon's three Top Gods.
- City-Building Series:
- In Pharaoh, both Bast and Osiris fill this role.
- Bast can provide additional food and goods to houses and decrease the rate those goods are consumed. If angered, she will do the opposite, as well as angering the people in general.
- Osiris can increase the potency of the Nile's flooding and increase the size of the harvest. If angered, he will withhold the flood and reduce the harvest sizes, or send a flood so strong it washes away the floodplain farms.
- In Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom: While he's summoned to the city, the "Kitchen God" Zao Jun blesses food shops with extra resources and creates top-quality food in the houses he passes.
- Zeus: Master of Olympus: Having a sanctuary to Demeter, Artemis, Hera or Poseidon lets you pray to them to fill granaries with food (crops, game meat, oranges or seafood respectively). Of course, if they're antagonistic towards you in that mission the opposite happens.
- In Pharaoh, both Bast and Osiris fill this role.
- Great God Grove's version of this is the God of the Harvest Cobigail, a towering goddess resembling a corn husk doll and the patron deity of the farming town Milldread. Her town's staple crop, and the thing she really needs for her Harvest, is a blood-scented berry tree (appropriate since the town's also known for its meat).
- From RuneScape we have Brassica Prime, the god of cabbages.
- Minoriko Aki from Touhou Project is a harvest goddess in Gensokyo, albeit not a very powerful one due to having to share faith with numerous far more powerful deities in the same sphere. She is however considered one of the friendliest deities to humans, and she's invited to the Human Village every year in order to guarantee a good harvest.
- The religion of Story of Seasons revolves around the Harvest Goddess and her Harvest Sprites. Several games also feature the Harvest King and Harvest God, albeit as lesser gods compared to the Harvest Goddess. The Harvest Goddess and Harvest King can be interacted with by the player and even married in many games.
- Six Ages:
- Ride Like the Wind: The Riders have several gods whose blessings provide food. The player is likely to need every one of them before the game ends:
- Busenari, goddess of cattle, is the Riders' primary livestock deity. Her blessings make your livestock more fertile, protect your herds for thieves and predators, and increase milk yields.
- Uryarda, goddess of goats, is fairly minor, because goats aren't as important to the Riders as cows are. She's much more important to another solar people, the Ergeshites, who herd no other animals.
- Pela, goddess of barley and the land, is the main farming goddess and prayed to for better crop yields.
- Inilla, goddess of foraging (finding food in the wild). She was a minor figure when the Riders still lived in Nivorah, but became very important after their exile from the city. Her enemy is Yatelo the Hungry Sun, the god of famine.
- Dostal, god of the hunt, also entered the Rider pantheon after they had to learn to live in the wilderness, when he taught them to hunt elk, stag, pheasant, and Big Old One Horn.
- And finally, Nyalda the Earth Mother does not directly help with food, but she's very much associated with it, and is the mother of all the above gods except Dostal (who's Inilla's husband).
- Lights Going Out: After the player's clan married into the Ram culture, they adopted the Orlanthi pantheon and as such now worship a combination of old and new gods. In addition to Dostal and Inilla, the Berenthtelli's food deities include:
- Uralda is a cow goddess very similar to Busenari. When the Chaos deity Krarsht devours her, your herds stop giving birth and eventually die out.
- Voriof is the god of sheep and shepherds; the Rams herd sheep as their primary livestock (the player's clan keeps both cattle and sheep due to their mixed ancestry). When the Chaos deity Pocharngo devours him, your flocks begin to die off.
- Ernalda, another Earth Mother (or possibly the same one by a different name), is the pantheon's primary deity of plant life and the fertile earth, in addition to motherhood and female interests. However, as she is dead by the game's start, the clan doesn't have the option of asking her for her blessings.
- Ride Like the Wind: The Riders have several gods whose blessings provide food. The player is likely to need every one of them before the game ends:
- Six Ages' predecessor King of Dragon Pass also has a host of food gods, most but not all associated with farming. These include:
- Uralda, goddess of cattle.
- The other animal mothers, including Mralota the pig goddess and Nevala the sheep goddess.
- Esra the barley goddess and her fellow grain mothers.
- Barntar, god of farmers, also helps with the harvest.
- Ernalda the Earth Mother takes an active interest in farming, having several food-related blessings to offer.
- Odayla, god of hunting.
- And the war gods Elmal and Orlanth each chip in to help the crops as well.
- Genshin Impact has Marchosius, the God of the Stove who is worshipped by the cooks of Liyue and played a major role in helping humans establish Liyue Harbor. After sacrificing much of his divine power to protect humanity, he was reduced to a much weaker form, IE; Xiangling's pet panda Guoba.
- Given a twist with the Unum in Warframe. The Unum is an Orokin tower that shelters the colony of Cetus at her base, guiding and protecting the Ostrons every way she can. One of the ways she provides for the colony is giving them food... harvested from the flesh that grows within her walls, instructing the colonists on how to collect it sustainably.
- Nixvir has Lady Metre, the goddess of agriculture, food, wine and parties. Personality-wise, she is a blend of both Demeter and Dionysus, retaining the latter's predilection towards hedonism and hard-drinking, while sharing the former's association with plants and greenery. Every year, on the Festival of Agriculture and the Grape, she has the responsibility of kissing the farmer's produce - including one's arrrrtichoke - in order to ensure that they grow better.
- SCP Foundation: SCP-1846
claims to be an angel of the one true god — a corn god who decides how good an afterlife people get based entirely on how much corn they eat and use. Whether or not it's true, the "angel" has a coating of corn leaves and a corn-specific Green Thumb.
- In the Fantasy High campaign of Dimension 20, Kristen starts off as a cleric of Helio, the god of corn (and more generally, of the harvest). Later on we meet a devil called "Gorthalax the Insatiable", who had previously been an angel named "Gorthiel the Seraph of Eating the Right Amount of Food", so clearly food and satiety are important concepts in this religion.

