Holy Food: How Cults Influence American Food

Religious beliefs have been the source of food “rules” since Pythagoras told his followers not to eat beans (they contain souls), Kosher and Halal rules forbade the shrimp cocktail (shellfish are scavengers, or maybe God just said “no”). A long-ago Pope forbade Catholics from eating meat on Fridays (fasting to atone for committed sins). Rules about eating are present in nearly every American belief, from high-control groups that ban everything except air to the infamous strawberry shortcake that sated visitors to the Oneida Community in the late 1800s. Only in the United States where the freedom to worship the God of your choice and sometimes of your own making could people embrace new ideas about religion. It is in this over-stirred pot of liberation, revolution and mysticism that we discover that God cares a lot about what you put in your mouth. Christina Ward’s new book “Holy Food: How Cults, Communes and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat — An American History” investigates the explosion of religious movements since the Great Awakenings that birthed a cottage industry of food fads and cookbooks.