3. Food and religious pluralism - For teachers

The religious significance of food has always captured the interest of anthropologists, historians and sociologists. Every cultural and religious group acts as a culture carrier, in this respect every cultural and religious community is actively involved in the social inclusion process. Food is a cultural element, it is part of an amalgam of symbols which builds every kind of cultural system.
The meanings embedded in cultural symbols, such as food, can serve to represent and institutionalize the values and beliefs of a broader culture. Therefore, food behaviours are influenced by both socio-economical and socio-cultural factors as much as religious conceptions, covering a fundamental role through the definition of rules and prohibitions.
Every cultural group develops its own preferences for certain kinds of food and ways of preparing it. Cultural preferences stem from interplays between food supplies, tradition and necessities imposed by the social environment; however, food rules are also dictated by sacred stories (myths) and taboos concerning food practices
So, if we avoid considering cases in which people choose what to eat because of sustenance, food is nevermore a physiological need but definitely a cultural need. Due to migration and globalization, food patterns have changed everywhere: religious practitioners who migrated to countries without religious dietary laws used to adjust their food pattern to local food pattern or to other religious dietary laws similar to their own simply because there was no such food available.
This topic has profound implications for the understanding of globalization; this reality can be well studied by means of religious discourse on food and alterity. New globalized societies are now supposed to afford alterity, in order to promote, in primis, social inclusion. Food might be considered both as an object and a subject of social change and great attention may be paid to the convergences or clashes of religiosities, a relevant aspect regarding civil coexistence. So food frequently is at stake in each European society (and in the political debate): what is the range of alterity allowed without hampering the unity of a society?

A general framework is useful in order to understand the complexity of the relation between food and religion.
Each religious conception in matter of food refers to three categories:

1. food creation and production, or rather, everything preceding food consumption;
2. food consumption, whose taxonomy is concerned with objective and direct prescriptions, (licit orΩ illicit foods) or temporary prescription (abstention and fasting) and obligation in specific food consumption (e.g. during recurring events);
3. food distribution, referring to the complex issue of regulation within food industry and branding and marketing (e.g. meat is the most strictly regulated food in the Islam)

Main food proscription in world religions
In world religions, we can summarize the main food proscriptions:

1) Asian religions:
Hinduism.
The situation of food proscription in Hinduism is very complex thanks to the polymorphic nature of this religion and to the fact that religious diet is stronger in Brahmin casts than for lower casts. Moreover, the situation evolves differently according to the level of modernization of society (from the village to the metropolitan cities).
Generally speaking, Hindus are not supposed to consume any foods that might slow down spiritual growth. The eating of meat is not prohibited, but pork, fowl, ducks, snails, crabs, and camels are avoided. The cow is sacred to Hindus.
Many devout Hindus fast on the eighteen major Hindu holidays, as well as on numerous personal days, such as birthdays and anniversaries of deaths and marriages. Some of them also fast on a day in a week and on specific days associated with various positions of the moon (notably full moon) and the planets.

Buddhism.
Many Buddhists are vegetarians, though some include fish in their diet. Most do not eat meat and abstain from all beef products. The birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha are the three most commonly recognized festivals for feasting, resting from work, or fasting. Buddhist monks fast completely on certain days of the moon, and they routinely avoid eating any solid foods after the noon hour (at least in Theravada Buddhism). [link with Buddhism DM]

2) Monotheist religions:
Judaism.
The Jewish dietary law is called Kashrut, meaning "suitable for” or “adequate” The term kosher refers to the methods of processing foods according to the Jewish laws, mostly grounded in Torah (Leviticus, especially). The processing laws and other restrictions regarding to the preparation and the consumption of food and drink were enacted in regard to the biblical text. For example, rules about the avoidance of some meals or on the separation of meal and dairy products (which has consequences on the separate use of pans, plates, and utensils), Main rules are:

1. Kosher and non-kosher foods cannot come into contact with the same plates.
2. Concerning allowed or prohibited food, the Kashrut only allows the meat of ruminant mammals with a slit hoof (so, pig, a non-ruminant is prohibited). Domestic birds are allowed (but not ostriches). Fish must have fins and scales, otherwise they are prohibited. Shellfish, amphibians and reptiles also are prohibited.
3. Jewish laws dictate the ritual slaughter and removal of blood from meat before it can be eaten. The sciatic nerve also should be removed.
   
4. Meat and dairy products cannot be eaten at the same meal or served on the same plate, following the Bible verse (Exodus 23:19): “You must not boil a kid in its mother’s milk”
5. In some religious schools, only food and drinks prepared by Jewish people are allowed (for instance, wine).

Islam.
To the Muslims, eating is a matter of faith for those who follow the dietary laws called halal, a term for all permitted foods. Those foods that are prohibited, such as pork and birds of prey, are known as haram, while the foods that are questionable for consumption are known as mashbooh. Drinking alcohol is prohibited by Islamic law (but the status of wine has changed in the Quranic text itself: it was praised in the 16th surah of Quran and forbidden by other surah).
In the Muslim faith, the holy month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic year and is devoted to prayer, fasting, and charity. Muslims believe that it was during this month that God first began to reveal the holy book of Islam, the Quran, to the prophet Muhammad. Muslims are required to refrain from food and drink during daylight hours for the entire month. The fast is broken in the evening by a meal called the iftar, which traditionally includes dates and water or sweet drinks, and is resumed again at sunrise. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five Pillars of Faith, which are the most important religious duties in Islam. The practice is meant to remind Muslims of the poor, to cleanse the body, and to foster serenity and spiritual devotion. Ramadan ends with Eid al-Fitr, the "Festival of Breaking the Fast." [link with DM Islam 1]
Outside this religious practice which is compulsory for all Muslim faithful except children and ill people, there is also advisable fasting periods, often six days during Shawwal (the tenth month of the Islamic year).

Christianity.
In Christianity, religious rules regarding food are less pivotal than in Judaism. Christianity does not include binding rules relating to food or drink to which Christians are expected to adhere. Christian practices simply refer to the consideration that freedom is the consequence of the salvation that Jesus brought to men and women. The freedom to eat and drink everything that is healthy is part of that. In Roman Catholicism, the only rule is represented by the abstinence from certain foods in particular periods, for example, during Lent, the period that precedes the Holy Easter. On the designated days, Christians may restrict meat and meat products. With secularization, Lent fasting is less and less practiced in Western European countries.
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity and other Eastern Christian Churches (like the Coptic Church in Egypt and Ethiopia), there are several periods of fasting during the liturgical year, or even some days of fasting in the week (in the Coptic Church for example).
Protestant Churches generally have no specific diet, but an exception is represented with Seventh Day Adventism, a Protestant denomination which advocates a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, including moderate amounts of low-fat dairy products and the avoidance of meat, fish, fowl, coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco products (though these are not strictly prohibited). The Church's beliefs are grounded in the Sacred Scriptures, and in a "belief in the wholistic nature of people" (Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Nutrition Council).

Mormonism.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church or, informally, the Mormon Church) is a religious group which appeared in the USA in the beginning of the 19th century. The LDS faithful observe a health code called the "Word of Wisdom” in which they abstain from the consumption of  tobacco, alcohol, “hot drinks” (understood as coffee and tea), and illegal drugs.. The Word of Wisdom also encourages the use of wholesome herbs and fruits within season, moderate consumption of meat, and consumption of grains.

While the dietary practices of different religions vary, and the rationale for each practice is based upon different texts, there is also much commonality. The practice of fasting is almost universal across religious groups, and most regard it as a mechanism to discipline the followers in a humbling way for spiritual growth. Many fasting practices are connected with specific holy days. The variation in consumption of meat and vegetables has a much wider variation.

The rise of halal food in modern economic systems

In line with the rise of the Islamic economy as a whole, halal food consumption is growing rapidly worldwide which represents new market opportunities. The industry has a 16 per cent market share of the total global food industry, with Asia, Africa and Europe accounting for 63 per cent, 24 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, according to a recent research and markets study. Given the fact that the global Muslim population — currently about a quarter of the world population — is also growing at a steady pace and the Muslim middle class is becoming more affluent, there is still a huge potential for halal food.
A number of non-Muslim countries and multinational food producers have discovered the importance of halal food, adding new products to the shelves and restaurants that offer everything from halal hot dogs and burgers to shepherd’s pie and sushi. In Japan, where the halal food culture has already developed into a popular niche segment, the Japan Halal Association accredited last year a Nagano-based miso paste company to produce the world’s first halal miso paste, one of the most common ingredients in traditional Japanese cuisine. Apart from that, the University of Tokyo recently introduced menus that contained certified-halal food such as zaru soba noodles, a popular summer dish in Japan, and stewed udon, spicy noodles eaten with lamb or chicken.
Thailand, the country with arguably one of the most popular food cultures worldwide, has also embarked on the halal trend. There are numerous halal restaurants in Bangkok and most of the tourist destinations in the country. It has become so popular that one of the country’s most important industry events, Phuket Halal Expo, held in May 2015, saw a record 300 representatives from global halal-related organisations engaging in various seminars that focused on product innovations.
Western countries with a large Muslim population are also tapping the market. In the UK, halal meat and sausages are available at big supermarket chains, and others have introduced halal baby food or organic halal food. Some chicken fast-food chains in the UK only serve halal chicken.
In France, the European country with the largest Muslim population, supermarkets and grocery stores also offer a wide variety of halal food including French specialities such as foie gras. In Germany, the number of halal-only food companies is growing steadily, producing salami, bologna and other popular sausages strictly following halal standards. According to the Federal Association of German Food Retailers, the halal food industry has become larger in terms of revenue than the organic food segment and has become “an important pillar of business”.
Multinational food producers also have a number of halal products in the market, but their problem is that there is no harmonised global halal food standard, which makes it difficult to sell the same halal product globally. “It is estimated that there are currently around 122 active halal certification bodies around the world, including local government departments that have taken charge of halal certification,” says Dr Evangelia Komitopoulou, Global Food Certification Manager, SGS, a Switzerland-based certification company. “Each country is attempting to establish itself as the global hub for halal certification based on its own national and regional interests.”
In a bid to harmonise global halal standards, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2012 appointed the UAE to produce a unified standard that could be applied across all 57 Islamic countries within three years. If such a standard were introduced, it would certainly give the global halal food industry another strong boost.