Food as Outreach: Bridging Social Boundaries with Sacred Feasts

Authors

  • Cressida Rigney University of Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.30346

Keywords:

Food charity, commensality, purity, Homeless Run, Red Frogs, Loaves and Fishes

Abstract

Food is a medium for extending charity and constituting community, in the face of social and cultural divisions, based on perceptions of purity. The work of charitable groups The Red Frogs, The Homeless Run, and Reverend Bill Crews’ Loaves and Fishes in contemporary Australia creates links between cultural and spiritual food practices of religious and secular groups. Food charity transcends boundaries embracing the marginalised and needy groups of society, building temporary and permanent nourishing communities, while rejecting tensions of purity-based social division. This is the ?rst academic treatment of all three charities, which have to date been featured only in the popular media. Food charity extends commensality to those who are frequently separated from the charity providers. This feeds physical and spiritual needs of both benefactors and bene?ciaries. The benefactors accrue a sense of personal success in living out their faith and the needy experience purposefully given commensality and acceptance. Such charitable actions challenge the notions of purity that divide people, demonstrate the importance of practical faith, and utilise the power of food regularly to build temporary and permanent communities based on care and commensality. They work to protect, nourish, enrich, and elevate the lives of those who bene?t from the food distributed, rejecting social division on the basis of socially constructed understandings of purity.

Author Biography

  • Cressida Rigney, University of Sydney
    Cressida Rigney is a PhD candidate within the Studies of Religion department at the University of Sydney. Cressida completed her BA Hons I in 2015 looking at Food and Culture in Contemporary Religious, Spiritual and Secular Contexts and her fellowship with the Sydney Environment Institute facilitated the development of an academic interest in the wider environmental impact of food in society. Her PhD thesis looks at the role of food and food cultures in Australia’s social and environmental future from an ethical and eco-theological viewpoint. Cressida is particularly interested in the way societies interact with and understand their food and food systems.

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Miles, Sarah. 2007. Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion. Ballantine Books, New York.

OzHarvest. 2016. Online: http://www.ozharvest.org/what-we-do/ (accessed March 2, 2016).

Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, New York. https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990

Red Frogs. n.d. Online: http://au.redfrogs.com/ (accessed March 4, 2015).

Rigney, Cressida. 2015. Field Notes from The Red Frogs Gala Dinner (April 21).

Sabin, Lamiat. 2014. Ninety-year old Man Faces Jail for Giving Food to Homeless People. The Independent UK. November 4. Online: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ninetyyearold-man-faces-jail-for-giving-food-to-homeless-people-9838728.html (accessed May 20, 2015).

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Smith, Jed. 2015. The Islamic Men Feeding Sydney’s Homeless. news.com.au. November 17. Online: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-islamic-men-feeding-sydneys-homeless/news-story/156f8abf6be6ebaf98989dff8221ee85 (accessed March 1, 2016).

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Turner, Victor. 1973. The Centre Out There: Pilgrims Goal. History of Religions 12(3): 191-230. https://doi.org/10.1086/462677


AAP. 2012. Sydney's Busiest Free Restaurant Reopens. October 23. AAP Australian National News Wire.Online: http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/sydneys-busiest-free-restaurant-reopens/story-e6frfku9-1226501429762.

Andrews, Malcolm. 1999. A New Recipe for Loaves and Fishes. Newcastle Herald. December 11.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2014. Inside Schoolies.

Barker, Anne. 2014. Grim Christmas: Charities Report High Demand for Free Meals from Poor and Homeless. ABC Premium News. December 10. Online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-10/high-demand-for-free-meals-for-homeless-in-sydney/5958584.

Belasco, Warren. 2007. Appetite for Change: How the Counter Culture Took on the Food Industry. Cornell University Press, New York.

Briggs, Bill. 2014. Florida Couple Fined and Threatened Jail for Feeding the Homeless. NBC News. May 12. Online: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/?orida-couple-?ned-threatened-jail-feeding-homeless-n103786 (accessed May 20, 2015).

Bruce, Steve. 2011. Secularisation: In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199654123.001.0001

Coffe, Hilde, and Benny Geys. 2007. Toward an Empirical Characterisation of Bridging and Bonding Social Capital. Nonpro?t and Volunteer Sector Quarterly 36(1): 121-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764006293181

Coyote, Peter. 1998. Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle. Counterpoint, Berkeley, CA.

Douglas, Mary. 2002. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Routledge, London.

Dumas, Daisy. 2013. Teenage Wasteland: ‘Froggers’ Keep Schoolies Safe from Moral Swamp. Sydney Morning Herald. November 30.

Feeley-Harnik, Gillian. 1995. Religion and Food: An Anthropological Perspective. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 63(3): 565-82. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LXIII.3.565

Friendly, Fred W. (dir.). 1960. Harvest of Shame. CBS News.

Gladstone, Nigel. 2015. Volunteers from the North Shore Give Time and Millions to Help Feed Sydney’s Needy and Homeless. The Daily Telegraph Online. June 19. Online: available from http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/volunteers-from-the-north-shore-give-time-and-millions-to-help-feed-sydneys-needy-and-homeless/story-fngr8h9d-1227405518806 (accessed September 6, 2015).

Herbertson, Lisa. 2015. The Neighbours of the Exodus Foundation Aren’t Feeling the Love. The Daily Telegraph Online. Online: March 19. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/the-neighbours-of-the-exodus-foundation-arent-feeling-the-love/story-fngr8h4f-1227267735676 (accessed September 6, 2015).

Homeless Run Of?cial Facebook Page. n.d. Online: https://www.facebook.com/1518035228466538/videos/vb.1518035228466538/1603254896611237/?type=2&theater (accessed June 8, 2015).

Kelly, Stuart. 2015. Australia Is an Alcoholic Writes Grieving Brother of One Punch Victim. Sydney Morning Herald. September 17. Online: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/australia-is-an-alcoholic-writes-grieving-brother-of-one-punch-victim-20150917-gjos5i.html (accessed September 19, 2015).

Khan, Muhammad G. 2012. Turning to My Religion. In Muslim Youth: Challenges, Opportunities and Expectations. Edited by Mohammad Siddique Seddon and Fauzia Admad, 99-116. Continuum: London.

Lehmann, John. 2015. Fair Go for the West: Bill Crews Moves to Take Hope to Liverpool. The Daily Telegraph. March 19. Online: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/fairgowest/fair-go-for-the-west-bill-crews-loves-to-take-hope-to-liverpool/story-fnrhmaut1227255516609?sv=2880f3031e777311c95b70eb024de40f (accessed March 19, 2016).

Lentil As Anything. 2015. Online: http://lentilasanything.com/ (accessed August 18, 2015).

Loewenstein, David. 2012. Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers. In The Oxford Handbook of Literature and the English Revolution, edited by Laura Lunger Knoppers, 327-45. Oxford University Press, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199560608.013.0018

Love Thy Neighbour. 2015. Online: http://lovethyneighbor.org/ (accessed September 12, 2015).

Mann, Alana. 2015. Feeding Struggle Street. The Sydney Environment Institute. May 12. Online: http://sydney.edu.au/environment-institute/blog/feeding-struggle-street-how-australias-hidden-hungry-are-deserted-by-our-food-system/ (accessed June 11, 2015).

Marks, Michael. 2015. City of San Antonio Dismisses The Chow Train’s Citation. The Daily. July 14.Online: http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2015/07/14/san-antonio-dismisses-the-chow-trains-citation. (accessed March 1, 2016).

Mathews, Aimee. 2008. Backpacking as a Contemporary Rite of Passage. In Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance, edited by Graham St John, 174-89. Berghahn Books, Oxford.

Miles, Sarah. 2007. Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion. Ballantine Books, New York.

OzHarvest. 2016. Online: http://www.ozharvest.org/what-we-do/ (accessed March 2, 2016).

Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, New York. https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990

Red Frogs. n.d. Online: http://au.redfrogs.com/ (accessed March 4, 2015).

Rigney, Cressida. 2015. Field Notes from The Red Frogs Gala Dinner (April 21).

Sabin, Lamiat. 2014. Ninety-year old Man Faces Jail for Giving Food to Homeless People. The Independent UK. November 4. Online: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ninetyyearold-man-faces-jail-for-giving-food-to-homeless-people-9838728.html (accessed May 20, 2015).

Santow, Simon. 2014. 15 Australians Die Each Day from Alcohol Related Illness. ABC News. July 21. Online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-31/15-australians-die-each-day-from-alcohol-related-illness-study/5637050 (accessed September 19, 2016).

Smith, Jed. 2015. The Islamic Men Feeding Sydney’s Homeless. news.com.au. November 17. Online: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-islamic-men-feeding-sydneys-homeless/news-story/156f8abf6be6ebaf98989dff8221ee85 (accessed March 1, 2016).

Taylor, Charles. 2007. A Secular Age. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Turner, Victor. 1973. The Centre Out There: Pilgrims Goal. History of Religions 12(3): 191-230. https://doi.org/10.1086/462677


Turner, Victor. 1974. Dramas, Fields and Metaphors. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. Turner, Victor. 1974. Dramas, Fields and Metaphors. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
AAP. 2012. Sydney's Busiest Free Restaurant Reopens. October 23. AAP Australian National News Wire.Online: http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/sydneys-busiest-free-restaurant-reopens/story-e6frfku9-1226501429762.

Andrews, Malcolm. 1999. A New Recipe for Loaves and Fishes. Newcastle Herald. December 11.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2014. Inside Schoolies.

Barker, Anne. 2014. Grim Christmas: Charities Report High Demand for Free Meals from Poor and Homeless. ABC Premium News. December 10. Online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-10/high-demand-for-free-meals-for-homeless-in-sydney/5958584.

Belasco, Warren. 2007. Appetite for Change: How the Counter Culture Took on the Food Industry. Cornell University Press, New York.

Briggs, Bill. 2014. Florida Couple Fined and Threatened Jail for Feeding the Homeless. NBC News. May 12. Online: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/?orida-couple-?ned-threatened-jail-feeding-homeless-n103786 (accessed May 20, 2015).

Bruce, Steve. 2011. Secularisation: In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199654123.001.0001

Coffe, Hilde, and Benny Geys. 2007. Toward an Empirical Characterisation of Bridging and Bonding Social Capital. Nonpro?t and Volunteer Sector Quarterly 36(1): 121-39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764006293181

Coyote, Peter. 1998. Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle. Counterpoint, Berkeley, CA.

Douglas, Mary. 2002. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Routledge, London.

Dumas, Daisy. 2013. Teenage Wasteland: ‘Froggers’ Keep Schoolies Safe from Moral Swamp. Sydney Morning Herald. November 30.

Feeley-Harnik, Gillian. 1995. Religion and Food: An Anthropological Perspective. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 63(3): 565-82. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LXIII.3.565

Friendly, Fred W. (dir.). 1960. Harvest of Shame. CBS News.

Gladstone, Nigel. 2015. Volunteers from the North Shore Give Time and Millions to Help Feed Sydney’s Needy and Homeless. The Daily Telegraph Online. June 19. Online: available from http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/volunteers-from-the-north-shore-give-time-and-millions-to-help-feed-sydneys-needy-and-homeless/story-fngr8h9d-1227405518806 (accessed September 6, 2015).

Herbertson, Lisa. 2015. The Neighbours of the Exodus Foundation Aren’t Feeling the Love. The Daily Telegraph Online. Online: March 19. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/the-neighbours-of-the-exodus-foundation-arent-feeling-the-love/story-fngr8h4f-1227267735676 (accessed September 6, 2015).

Homeless Run Of?cial Facebook Page. n.d. Online: https://www.facebook.com/1518035228466538/videos/vb.1518035228466538/1603254896611237/?type=2&theater (accessed June 8, 2015).

Kelly, Stuart. 2015. Australia Is an Alcoholic Writes Grieving Brother of One Punch Victim. Sydney Morning Herald. September 17. Online: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/australia-is-an-alcoholic-writes-grieving-brother-of-one-punch-victim-20150917-gjos5i.html (accessed September 19, 2015).

Khan, Muhammad G. 2012. Turning to My Religion. In Muslim Youth: Challenges, Opportunities and Expectations. Edited by Mohammad Siddique Seddon and Fauzia Admad, 99-116. Continuum: London.

Lehmann, John. 2015. Fair Go for the West: Bill Crews Moves to Take Hope to Liverpool. The Daily Telegraph. March 19. Online: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/fairgowest/fair-go-for-the-west-bill-crews-loves-to-take-hope-to-liverpool/story-fnrhmaut1227255516609?sv=2880f3031e777311c95b70eb024de40f (accessed March 19, 2016).

Lentil As Anything. 2015. Online: http://lentilasanything.com/ (accessed August 18, 2015).

Loewenstein, David. 2012. Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers. In The Oxford Handbook of Literature and the English Revolution, edited by Laura Lunger Knoppers, 327-45. Oxford University Press, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199560608.013.0018

Love Thy Neighbour. 2015. Online: http://lovethyneighbor.org/ (accessed September 12, 2015).

Mann, Alana. 2015. Feeding Struggle Street. The Sydney Environment Institute. May 12. Online: http://sydney.edu.au/environment-institute/blog/feeding-struggle-street-how-australias-hidden-hungry-are-deserted-by-our-food-system/ (accessed June 11, 2015).

Marks, Michael. 2015. City of San Antonio Dismisses The Chow Train’s Citation. The Daily. July 14.Online: http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2015/07/14/san-antonio-dismisses-the-chow-trains-citation. (accessed March 1, 2016).

Mathews, Aimee. 2008. Backpacking as a Contemporary Rite of Passage. In Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance, edited by Graham St John, 174-89. Berghahn Books, Oxford.

Miles, Sarah. 2007. Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion. Ballantine Books, New York.

OzHarvest. 2016. Online: http://www.ozharvest.org/what-we-do/ (accessed March 2, 2016).

Putnam, Robert D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster, New York. https://doi.org/10.1145/358916.361990

Red Frogs. n.d. Online: http://au.redfrogs.com/ (accessed March 4, 2015).

Rigney, Cressida. 2015. Field Notes from The Red Frogs Gala Dinner (April 21).

Sabin, Lamiat. 2014. Ninety-year old Man Faces Jail for Giving Food to Homeless People. The Independent UK. November 4. Online: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ninetyyearold-man-faces-jail-for-giving-food-to-homeless-people-9838728.html (accessed May 20, 2015).

Santow, Simon. 2014. 15 Australians Die Each Day from Alcohol Related Illness. ABC News. July 21. Online: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-31/15-australians-die-each-day-from-alcohol-related-illness-study/5637050 (accessed September 19, 2016).

Smith, Jed. 2015. The Islamic Men Feeding Sydney’s Homeless. news.com.au. November 17. Online: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-islamic-men-feeding-sydneys-homeless/news-story/156f8abf6be6ebaf98989dff8221ee85 (accessed March 1, 2016).

Taylor, Charles. 2007. A Secular Age. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Turner, Victor. 1973. The Centre Out There: Pilgrims Goal. History of Religions 12(3): 191-230. https://doi.org/10.1086/462677

Turner, Victor. 1974. Dramas, Fields and Metaphors. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.

Published

2017-04-06

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Rigney, C. (2017). Food as Outreach: Bridging Social Boundaries with Sacred Feasts. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 29(3), 300-316. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.30346

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