There are not many foods you can philosophize about effectively (what does a hamburger mean?), but soup is one of them. It's the perfect winter food, it's rich and healthy, it's just so damn ... warm. You could probably come up with many more fitting theories why soup is so metaphorical. So, come embarrass your peers by waxing poetic at the Empty Bowls event.

First, we suggest you eat a big ... wait for it ... bowl of cereal before attending Saturday's event.

The line starts some years an hour before the doors open. That's when the semi-mad dash begins for the "best" bowls. Preference, of course, is relative. One person might grab a bowl donated by Throwing Mud Gallery, and another person chooses a bowl made and donated by a high school student in an advanced ceramics class. Once selections are made - 1,200 in all - and paid for, with all proceeds going to Emergency Food Network, attendees make their way to the free soup, donated by Pacific Grill, The Swiss, Adriatic Grill, Infinite Soups, Engine House 9, Alina Soups and Chambers Bay.

CHARLES WRIGHT ACADEMY, 1-3 P.M., BOWLS START AT $10, 7723 Chambers Creek Road W., Tacoma, 253.584.1040