"Fodder" meaning "useless chatter"?

Is there a usage of the word fodder that means "useless chatter"? I have used it this way in the past but can't find it referenced that way currently.

"Fodder for the rumor mill" is a phrase with some usage (16k google hits).

Fodder literally means:

1. food, especially hay or straw, for animals such as cows and horses

But is often used figuratively in the same way as "food" is:

2. someone or something considered useful only for one particular purpose: We are not just voting fodder for professional politicians

3. someone or something that people talk or write about: The band has given plenty of fodder to tabloid journalists

So "fodder for the rumor mill", if you take rumors as being useless chatter, would mean topics/information for useless chatter.