Religion and Food

Why do we eat the things we eat in the way we eat them? Used in religious rituals, food can become a potent symbolic expression of people's relationships to one another, to the world, and to the Ultimate. Historically, food has been an integral part of religious activity through practices such as preparation, consumption, and fasting. In order to understand these practices better, the course begins with a brief exploration of how food functions in culture generally to create and sustain meaning. The bulk of the course investigates the place of food in the rituals and beliefs of three of the world's great religious traditions: Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity. The course also examines the phenomena of over- and under-eating in light of the importance given to feasting and fasting in these religious traditions, as well as the issue of food production and consumption from the perspective of social justice.