Professor David Freidenreich’s fascinating talk explored the they way that religious food laws have shaped personal identity in Judaism, Christianity, and Shiite and Sunni Islam from the Medieval period until modern day. He framed the rather pedantic issue through an analogy with the recent French vs. Freedom fry debate during the 2003 Iraq war. Proponents of the war denounced France’s opposition to the invasion by declaring that potato fries should be renamed “Freedom Fries.” This single food “law” created a feeling of patriotism for supporters of the war and enabled them to identify others who disagreed with their beliefs.

Professor Freidenreich explained the purposes of Kashrut in Judaism and halal food in Islam, and in the process debunked many misconceptions. For example, some have assumed that the Jewish dietary laws were originally meant to keep Jews separate from gentiles. In fact, the purpose was more likely described as keeping Jews closer to God by ensuring they only consume the foods “fit for God” – those that could be sacrificed. In the Medieval era, the Canaanite gentiles who lived near the Jews did not eat pork anyway so this rule did not serve to separate them. It was not until the Greeks came, with their pork-heavy cuisine, that the law forbidding pork began hindering Jews from sharing meals with non-Jews. Interestingly, the Hellenic period also shifted the way Jews explained their food laws as they began to borrow from the developing Greek rhetoric on morality and hygiene.

Overall, it is not surprising how powerfully food laws shape personal identity. Eating the same food is a way to bond with people of one’s own culture and sharing a meal with others symbolically and practically facilitates cultural exchange. However, the history and evolution of food laws in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is nuanced and offers an intriguing anthropological perspective on these people’s sense of self.

The series Other People’s Food in the Sporkful Podcast provides a completely different, modern day take on food and cultural identity.