Forrest Gnome Food Choices

Forrest Gnome eating habits differ from other races in Pethron in two major ways - they're vegetarian and they eat with their hands.

Vegetarianism

Forrest Gnomes have an innate capacity to communicate with animals in a way that other races don't have. While they are more comfortable chatting with a squirrel or sparrow, they are able to whisper with a horse or argue with a walrus. The animals aren't able to understand or express complex ideas like the races with true language, but the conversations that Gnomes do have with them are easily enough to make munching on them entirely unappealing.
The gnomes are by no means vegans though. Milk, eggs and honey are all very popular, and available in good measure due to the superior husbandry the Gnomes can achieve. Their chooks are well looked after and their cows are only contained when they agree with the arrangements.

No Utensils

The driver for the lack of utensils seems to be the enjoyment of the full experience. Children are encouraged to play with their food and apparently they just never get bored of it. The Gnomes will take care to wash their hands and face before and after the meal, but while the eating is going on, no holds are barred. And eating in this way doesn't only have to be an individual experience. If a gnome asks you to pass the salad, they may well expect you to pass it all the way to their mouth. And if you ask a gnome for some cake, you'd better hope they're a good aim!
While Gnomes are creative, and often their abstract thinking can seem chaotic and disorganised to the outsider, much of their life does involve a lot of structure. Mealtimes with friends and family serve as a foil to this. A place to relax and let things be all over the place.