Create a 1 page essay paper that discusses Religion and Food.382). Good examples are New York Jews who consume Chinese food, though according to Judaism, “Chinese food is un-kosher, and therefore, n

Create a 1 page essay paper that discusses Religion and Food.

382). Good examples are New York Jews who consume Chinese food, though according to Judaism, “Chinese food is un-kosher, and therefore, non-Jewish” (Tuchman and Levine, p. 385). In this way, one cultural tradition oppresses another.

Another way, when some cultural traditions historically make a so solid connection, that one is inconceivable from another. Such kind of connection has African Americans and European Americans within American nation. According to Doris Witt, a history of these relationships can be studied within food. “Food is simply central issue for African Americans”, and Africans were constantly associated with food (especially, women) because of a racial question (Witt, p. 8).

Another undeniable thing is a modern world wide, not only peculiar for America. It’s a general desacralization of food. Consumption of different cuisines seems okay exactly because of this tendency: when eating we no longer associate food with something spiritual. Singer describes Krishna’s eating tradition and particularly, prasadam when food is firstly proposed to a godhood and then eaten with blessing (p. 197). However, the most visual example is desacralization of food in Christian tradition. For example, nowadays not many of us keep up fasting and feasting, yet it’s “at the very heart of Christian tradition” (Bynum, p. 2).

Could it be, that while losing each individual cultural identity among variety of different others we instead form something global and common? When having same issues and values, will there be more understanding? Can food reconcile the world?

Singer, A. E. “Conversion Through Foodways Enculturation: The Meaning of Eating in an American Hindu Sect” in Brown, L. K. and Mussell, K. (Eds.) Ethnic and Regional Foodways in the United Stated: The Performance of Group Identity. Univ. of Tennessee Press,