Making Sense of Religion and Food
Issued Date: 4 Jul 2017
Abstract
When looking at eating beyond physical nourishment, British anthropologist Mary Douglas (1921-2007) defined food as a cultural system, or code that communicates not only biological information, but social structure and meaning. What can a study of food and faith teach us, as scholars of religion, that we might not otherwise know? This article outlines thematic and pedagogical approaches to teaching food and religion through the lens of five semesters of teaching this course to undergraduate and graduate students. In it, I explore the topics of Food memory and community; Food and scripture; Food, gender and race; and Stewardship and Charity, thinking about spiritual and physical nourishment in the world's major religious traditions.
Download Media
PDF (Price: £17.50 )
DOI: 10.1558/bsor.32163
References
Afroculinaria: Exploring Culinary Traditions of Africa, African America and the
African Diaspora blog. https://afroculinaria.com.
Allahyari, Rebecca Anne. 2000. Visions of Charity: Volunteer Workers and Moral
Community. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520221444.001.0001.
Belasco, Warren. 2008. Food: The Key Concepts. New York: Berg.
Berry, Thomas. 2015. Dream of the Earth. Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 2015.
Berry, Wendell. 2015. “The Pleasures of Eating.” In Food: A Reader
for Writers, edited by Deborah H. Holdstein and Danielle Aquiline, 37–42.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Davis, Ellen F. 2009. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Dodson, Jualynne E. and Cheryl Townsend Gilkes. 1995. “There’s Nothing
Like Church Food: Food and the U.S. Afro-Christian Tradition: Remembering Community
and Feeding the Embodied S/spirit(s),” Journal of the American Academy of
Religion 63 (3): 519–38. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lxiii.3.519.
Doniger, Wendy, trans. 1991. The Laws of Manu. New York: Penguin Books.
Douglas, Mary. 1966. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and
Taboo. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203361832.
Fick, Gary W. 2008. Food, Farming, and Faith. Albany: State University of New
York Press.
The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale. http://fore.yale.edu/.
Glassman, Bernard, and Rick Fields. 1996. Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master’s
Lessons in Living a Life that Matters. New York: Bell Tower.
Hughes, Marvelene H. 1997. “Soul, Black Women, and Food.” In Food
and Culture: A Reader, edited by Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterick, 272–80.
New York: Routledge.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1997. “The Culinary Triangle.” In Food
and Culture: A Reader, edited by Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterick, 28–35.
New York: Routledge.
McClymond, Kathryn. 2006. “You Are What You Eat: Negotiating Hindu Utopias
in Atlanta.” In Eating in Eden: Food and American Utopias, edited by Etta
M. Madden and Martha L. Finch, 89–106. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
McDannell, Colleen. 1998. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture
in America. New York: Yale University Press.
McGuire, Meridith B. 2008. Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life.
New York: Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172621.001.0001.
Meeks, Wayne A., ed. 1993. The Harper Collins Study Bible: New Revised Standard
Version. London: Harper Collins.
Pollan, Michael. 20007. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four
Meals. New York: Penguin.
Robinson, Sarah E. 2015. “Refreshing Concept of Halal Meat: Resistance and
Religiosity in Chicago’s Taqwa Eco-Food Cooperative.” In Religion,
Food, and Eating in North America, edited by Benjamin E. Zeller, Marie W. Dallam,
Reid L. Neilson, and Nora L. Rubel, 274–93. New York: Columbia University
Press.
Shiva, Vedana, ed. 2007. Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. Boston: South
End Press.
Stark, Rodney. 1965. “Social Contexts and Religious Experience.” Review
of Religious Research 7 (1): 17–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3509831.
Sultar, Jeff. 1998. “Adam, Adamah, and Adonai: The Relationship between
Humans, Nature, and God in the Bible.” In Ecology and the Jewish Spirit:
Where Nature and the Sacred Meet, edited by Ellen Bernstein, 19–26. Woodstock,
VT: Jewish Lights Publishing.
Wall, Dennis, and Virgil Masayesva. 2004. “People of the Corn: Teachings
in Hopi Traditional Agriculture, Spirituality, and Sustainability.” American
Quarterly 28 (3–4): 435–53. https://doi.org/10.1353/aiq.2004.0109.
West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender
and Society 1 (2): 125–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243287001002002.
Wilson, Jeff. 2014. “Mindful Eating: American Buddhists and Worldly Benefits.”
In Religion, Food, and Eating in North America, edited by Benjamin E. Zeller,
Marie W. Dallam, Reid L. Neilson, and Nora L. Rubel, 214–33. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Zeller, Benjamin E., Marie W. Dallam, Reid L. Neilson, and Nora L. Rubel, eds.
2014. Religion, Food & Eating in North America. New York: Columbia University
Press.
African Diaspora blog. https://afroculinaria.com.
Allahyari, Rebecca Anne. 2000. Visions of Charity: Volunteer Workers and Moral
Community. Berkeley: University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/california/9780520221444.001.0001.
Belasco, Warren. 2008. Food: The Key Concepts. New York: Berg.
Berry, Thomas. 2015. Dream of the Earth. Berkeley: Counterpoint Press, 2015.
Berry, Wendell. 2015. “The Pleasures of Eating.” In Food: A Reader
for Writers, edited by Deborah H. Holdstein and Danielle Aquiline, 37–42.
New York: Oxford University Press.
Davis, Ellen F. 2009. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Dodson, Jualynne E. and Cheryl Townsend Gilkes. 1995. “There’s Nothing
Like Church Food: Food and the U.S. Afro-Christian Tradition: Remembering Community
and Feeding the Embodied S/spirit(s),” Journal of the American Academy of
Religion 63 (3): 519–38. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lxiii.3.519.
Doniger, Wendy, trans. 1991. The Laws of Manu. New York: Penguin Books.
Douglas, Mary. 1966. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and
Taboo. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203361832.
Fick, Gary W. 2008. Food, Farming, and Faith. Albany: State University of New
York Press.
The Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale. http://fore.yale.edu/.
Glassman, Bernard, and Rick Fields. 1996. Instructions to the Cook: A Zen Master’s
Lessons in Living a Life that Matters. New York: Bell Tower.
Hughes, Marvelene H. 1997. “Soul, Black Women, and Food.” In Food
and Culture: A Reader, edited by Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterick, 272–80.
New York: Routledge.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1997. “The Culinary Triangle.” In Food
and Culture: A Reader, edited by Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterick, 28–35.
New York: Routledge.
McClymond, Kathryn. 2006. “You Are What You Eat: Negotiating Hindu Utopias
in Atlanta.” In Eating in Eden: Food and American Utopias, edited by Etta
M. Madden and Martha L. Finch, 89–106. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
McDannell, Colleen. 1998. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture
in America. New York: Yale University Press.
McGuire, Meridith B. 2008. Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life.
New York: Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172621.001.0001.
Meeks, Wayne A., ed. 1993. The Harper Collins Study Bible: New Revised Standard
Version. London: Harper Collins.
Pollan, Michael. 20007. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four
Meals. New York: Penguin.
Robinson, Sarah E. 2015. “Refreshing Concept of Halal Meat: Resistance and
Religiosity in Chicago’s Taqwa Eco-Food Cooperative.” In Religion,
Food, and Eating in North America, edited by Benjamin E. Zeller, Marie W. Dallam,
Reid L. Neilson, and Nora L. Rubel, 274–93. New York: Columbia University
Press.
Shiva, Vedana, ed. 2007. Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. Boston: South
End Press.
Stark, Rodney. 1965. “Social Contexts and Religious Experience.” Review
of Religious Research 7 (1): 17–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3509831.
Sultar, Jeff. 1998. “Adam, Adamah, and Adonai: The Relationship between
Humans, Nature, and God in the Bible.” In Ecology and the Jewish Spirit:
Where Nature and the Sacred Meet, edited by Ellen Bernstein, 19–26. Woodstock,
VT: Jewish Lights Publishing.
Wall, Dennis, and Virgil Masayesva. 2004. “People of the Corn: Teachings
in Hopi Traditional Agriculture, Spirituality, and Sustainability.” American
Quarterly 28 (3–4): 435–53. https://doi.org/10.1353/aiq.2004.0109.
West, Candace, and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender
and Society 1 (2): 125–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243287001002002.
Wilson, Jeff. 2014. “Mindful Eating: American Buddhists and Worldly Benefits.”
In Religion, Food, and Eating in North America, edited by Benjamin E. Zeller,
Marie W. Dallam, Reid L. Neilson, and Nora L. Rubel, 214–33. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Zeller, Benjamin E., Marie W. Dallam, Reid L. Neilson, and Nora L. Rubel, eds.
2014. Religion, Food & Eating in North America. New York: Columbia University
Press.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
