Food And Religion
This an attempt to explain how food and religion have been and are connected to how and what we eat. Offerings, prayers, taboos, and ceremony has been and is elements in cultures all over the world. It is not so strange, food is essential to our survival if we don´t have food we die - as such food is a matter of life and death. I will give some examples of how this is expressed below.
Muslims fast for a whole month during Ramadan
Offerings
To make offerings to the gods for a better harvest, a good hunting or an end to drought has been in practice since the beginning of man. Many times the idea is to give something to get something back. The reciprocity does not have to include getting food back, by sacrificing a goat you can ask for luck in war or to be cured of a disease. In Sweden there is a tradition to put out a bowl of rice porridge at Christmas for the house pixie, it is a way to keep him happy so he doesn't start with mischief!
Ceremonies
Various ceremonies are in practice in all cultures. Prayer before eating, the way to cut the meat, to mourn the death of a relative, certain food is to be consumed at different initiations. In the Christian church, you have the bread and the wine during communion signifying the body and blood of Christ. At weddings, an abundance of food shall be served. The relation between food and religion is expressed in these types of ceremonies.
Restrictions
Many cultures also have restrictions. Some don´t eat pork, others seafood, others goat and yet others cow. You have vegetarians and people who aren´t allowed to eat anything but root fruits. During menstruation, a woman might be forced to eat alone. Fasting is in practice in many cultures, Catholics have "lent" and Muslims "Ramadan". There are many superstitious beliefs surrounding food, in parts of Brazil life would be shortened if you ate fish and meat on the same occasion. Of course, the base for many of these practices are medicinal and practical, but they are all the same incorporated in the religious context.
Preparation
In some cultures, there are strict regulations on how food should be prepared. The Jewish have a whole system of laws called "kosher": Animals has to be slaughtered and prepared in certain ways, the taboos for food combinations also apply on the preservation methods - separate sets of cooking equipment has to be used. In India, only certain classes of people are allowed to handle and prepare certain foods. Food and religion have a connection to daily life in most parts of the world.
And More...
There are many other aspects that have religious foundations. There are the Amish who try to keep the eating habits of the 19th century US. We have the Laestadians in northern Scandinavia who have the general idea that earthly pleasures are sinful so they make their food bland on purpose. The various ways religion is expressed through and with food are never-ending, but can never be neglected in understanding what we eat.
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