Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
"Death in the Woods" is all about the need to feed.
Don't get it twisted—this is no schlocky tale of teenage-vampire romance (although that would certainly spice things up). Instead, the story makes "feeding" a symbol of how women are drained of their life force (okay, now we've definitely got vampires on the brain) by the men in their lives.
When Mrs. Grimes is an indentured servant, "every moment of every day [...] was spent feeding something" (2.2). Things change when she gets married, right? Wrong. If she doesn't have something for her husband to eat, he comes home drunk and gives her "a cut on the head" (2.5). But there are tons of other things that need to be fed too, like "horses, cows, pigs" and "dogs" (2.15). That's a lot to ask for from one woman.
As you can see, Mrs. Grimes is constantly being asked to sacrifice her own well-being for others. And she does it without complaining. But it's clear (and made even clearer after the titular death in the woods) that this constant need to feed leaves her so exhausted that she has no energy left for herself.
To put the cherry on the top of this depressing sundae, her dogs respond to her death by sinking "their teeth into her grain pack" (4.2). As the narrator so eloquently states, this woman "was [...] destined to feed animal life" (5.14). In the end, she gave everything that she had to the people in her life and they simply scarfed it up greedily.