EducationPhase 2Religion and food choice

Around the world, people follow different religions. Religion can affect the foods we choose. Some religions have certain food restrictions. Some religions have festivals where special foods are eaten.

What religions can you think of where people eat different foods?

Christianity

Christians do not have any restriction over what foods they eat.

There are a number of occasions in the Church year where special food may be eaten. This includes: Shrove Tuesday, Easter and Christmas.

Shrove Tuesday

Lent is the 40 day period leading up to Easter, where Christians remember the time Jesus fasted in the desert and often give up certain food themselves during this period. Shrove Tuesday was traditionally the last chance to use up the foods Christians would not be eating during Lent (e.g. eggs, fats).

Shrove Tuesday

In the UK, Christians celebrate Shrove Tuesday by making pancakes.

In Poland, Fat Thursday is celebrate by making and eating pączeks, a round filled baked good fried in fat.

In Denmark, Fastelavn is celebrated byeating fastelavnsboller, buns made from pastry dough and decorated with icing.

Easter

Easter celebrates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, three days after he was killed. The foods below are often consumed at Easter to celebrate.

Chocolate eggs

Hot cross bun

La Mona de Pascua

Christmas

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. Different countries have their own traditional foods which are consumed at Christmas.

Dresdner Stollen

Oplatek (Christmas wafer)

Christmas pudding

Saint Lucy’s/Lucia’s day

Saint Lucy's Day or the Feast of St. Lucy is marked by Catholics and Orthodox Christians.Celebrations take place in the USA and Europe, especially Scandinavia. In Sweden, Lussekatts (St Lucy's day buns) are commonly eaten to celebrate.

Lussekatts

Judaism

Jewish people only eat food that is kosher – this means it meets their dietary laws. Dietary laws include:•no pork or shellfish;•animals must be killed in a kosher way;•meat and dairy cannot be consumed in the same meal or prepared in the same utensils.

Judaism

A number of Jewish festivals have associated food customs.

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)

Sweet foods are eaten to symbolise a sweet new year, e.g. apple dipped in honey and honey cake. The traditional plaited challot is replaced by round ones, to symbolise the cycle of the year.

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)

A day of fasting and prayer for forgiveness.

Pesach (Passover)

A week long festival which remembers the exodus from Egypt of the Hebrew slaves. No leavened food (food which contains yeast) can be eaten for the week. A special unleavened bread called matzah is eaten.

Hinduism

Hindus which come from certain areas may be vegetarian and not eat meat, fish or eggs. However some Hindus now eat meat. The only meat they will not eat is beef as the cow is considered to be the most sacred animal.

Divali

Divali marks the end of the Hindu year and the start of a new. Special divali sweets are eaten.

Islam

Muslims do not eat pork or any pork product. Other types of meat (e.g. lamb) have to be killed in a particular way, making it halal.

Ramadan

A month of fasting from dawn to sunset for Muslims.

Eid •Eid-ul-Fitr- day celebrating end of Ramadan•Eid ul-Adha- day that celebrates the end of the Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah).

Eid can be celebrated with special foods shared with friends and family, such as Eid sweets.

Sikhism

Sikhs cannot eat ritually killed meat. There are no other restrictions on what Sikhs can eat.

Sikhs believe in sharing food. Every gurdwara (place of worship) has a langar (common kitchen). The congregation eats together here after the service.

Divali

Sikhs also celebrate Divali. For Sikhs it is a festival marking the time when the sixth Guru was released from prison.

Buddhism

Buddhists believe in avoiding killing and being kind to all living things. Some Buddhists choose to be vegetarian or vegan because of this. However this is a personal choice. Many Buddhists are not vegetarian.

Wesak

Wesak is a festival celebrating the birth, enlightenment and death of Siddhartha (who some people believe to be Buddha).

Foods such as eight treasure rice can be eaten on Wesak. Eight treasure rice consists of boiled rice with 8 different varieties of fruit, nuts or sweets for the treasures.