Last month I posted on food sourcing and ethics, asking about the relationship between the seemingly high proportion of OC/IC folk who have become vegetarians and spiritual discipline and theology. You can see the original post by clicking here. This morning, making my rounds I fell into this article over at Religion Dispatches about a new movement in the Jewish community re-envisioning the rationale behind kashrut in the wake of recent scandalous events surrounding one of the largest kosher abattoirs in the US.

The author, Benjamin Weiner, writes: “the Jewish principle of sanctified eating, have been using the case as a rallying point against religious hypocrisy. If rabbinic supervision as it is currently constituted, they suggest, is concerned only with ascertaining the purity of meat according to the letter of the law, and does not provide the moral foundation to militate against flagrant social abuses, then a revaluation of the concept of kashrut itself is in order. . . . The ancient rabbis taught that since the destruction of the Temple a Jew’s own table is his or her sacred altar, and should be subject to the same degree of sanctity. Kashrut is not meant to be a system of arbitrary food taboos, but a discipline that elevates the human drive to eat above the kind of desecrations Agriprocessors may have committed.”

“Sanctified eating” – my earlier post, written in Bright Week, mentions that during the Great Fast we are more conscious of food, the value of food, its preparation, and so forth. I also asked if  OC/IC folk ought to give serious consideration to carrying some of that mentality into the rest of the liturgical year; what would that look like, would we all become vegetarians?

But here’s another take on it – kashrut is a product of religious law. Interestingly enough, very early in the development of the Christian cult, we abandoned (or so it seemed) this aspect of our Jewish heritage (see for example Acts 10.9ff) – and it would seem that we have never really revisited the matter since the second century. The fasting customs (and they are that, customs, not law) evolved over six centuries in conjunction with the third and fourth century fervour for asceticism. The ascetic diet was not a reflection of ethics, morality, or even theology, rather it was (believe it or not) a medical matter that had become spiritualised. Certain foods – mainly meat and dairy – are “heavy” foods, making the individual lethargic, sluggish, and fat – weighing him down. The logic translated into areas of transcendence – a lighter diet, meant a nimble mind, a lithe body, and a lighter countenance – the individual therefore, is more able to transcend this world, and join the society of the angels. Seriously folks, I’m not making this up! Mind you – there is some truth to the logic – a heavy meal does make one lethargic, and mentally sluggish. Ancient doctors did observe that virgins, and ascetics lived longer, and were more alert. Modern medicine too has demonstrated that a diet heavy in certain ingredients shortens life, and has a negative impact on health. But this observation has nothing to do with Christian theology.

It is perhaps curious to us – in our modern world of corporate agriculture, and the growing concern many people have for the effect that has on food quality, the environment, and the poor – that in late antique Christianity there is no consideration for, or reflection on the source of the food (other than ensuring that it had not been offered to a foreign god), its quality, or the treatment of the workers, or animals produced. Why this was I think is probably quite simple, at that time people either produced most of their own food, or traded with the producers – that is to say that the chain from source to table was much shorter and simpler than it is today.

It is true that in the past decade or so we have seen various attempts to re-introduce the idea of eating as a sacred activity; I’m thinking specifically of Jeff Smith’s Frugal Gourmet, and more recently the publication of various monastery cookbooks. However, it seems that a contemporary Christian theology of eating as a sacred activity, a sacrament even, rather than as an ascetic discipline, is largely absent. If we approach eating as a sacramental activity – then the sourcing of ingredients, the preparation of the meal, and the eating itself, becomes interwoven in a chain of ideas and activities reflecting the vision and values of our sacramental theology – our life as OC/IC believers. We are challenged to be more aware of the impact our purchasing power has on others, on the environment, and yes, on our individual health. We are faced with questions of well-being, of ethics, is this food “clean” or is it defiled with suffering, and injustice?

Perhaps it is time that we OC/IC folk have a conversation about re-envisioning the sanctity of food?

PS – today’s reading by the way is Jn. 6.5-14: Jesus feeds the 5000.