I think that's just a coincidence. Most of my gong-ringers have been farmers, but I've not seen giving (or taking) of food happen more frequently than any other outcome. I think the consensus of opinion here is that the events are random.

When I first played the game my first four Elders all got the same totem, so I thought there was only one design. I was quite surprised to get a different totem with my fifth Elder. I think most people agree that the allocation of totems is also random.